


Two Worlds, One Dragonrider

by divergary



Category: Dragonriders of Pern series and How to Train Your Dragon crossover
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-30
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-18 17:24:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divergary/pseuds/divergary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Chapter 1 – Struck by Lightning</b></p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Chapter 1 – Struck by Lightning**

**Chapter 1 – Struck by Lightning**

* * *

 _A/N_ : _This is an idea I've had brewing for a while now. How to combine characters from one of my favorite movies (HTTYD) with characters from one of my favorite book series (DRoP). I think I've found a solution, but I had to arrange the "death" of one of the major characters, so you HAVE been warned. As always, thanks for reading and PLEASE leave a review. Thanks._ **  
**

 _  
**All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.**   
_

* * *

_This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless, the people even more so. The only up sides are the pets. While other places have ponies and parrots we have..._

 _DRAGONS!_

Winters in Berk are hard, but the blizzards this past winter were especially tough. With the stored food nearly gone, everyone pitched in to resupply the village. Even the dragons were contributing to the resupply efforts, bringing back freshly killed deer from nearby islands. Hiccup and Toothless followed a group of dragons flying South and confirmed there was indeed a large population of deer on several uninhabited islands to the South of Berk. After returning home and reporting to his father about his discovery, Hiccup volunteered himself and the dragonriders to lead a hunting expedition to the islands. Upon arriving they decided to split up into teams, each team will pick an island and hunt there. That way they could cover more territory and not have so many dragons in one place spook all the deer.

Two days later, Hiccup and Astrid were on their way back home after a successful hunt. Strapped to the back of Toothless and Astrid's Nadder, Spike were the carcasses of two large deer the dragons killed that morning. Both Hiccup and Astrid had full packs of camping supplies and salted deer meat strapped to their backs. Hiccup had Toothless fly a bit slower to compensate for the extra weight and to reduce the stress on Spike since he had smaller wings.

"Let's take it slow and easy, alright bud? We've got a long way to go and we've got a pretty heavy load here. You doing okay there, buddy?" Hiccup asked while leaning forward. Toothless turned his head sideways to look Hiccup in the eye and grunted once as if he was saying, _"No problem"._

Hiccup looked across at Astrid and Spike and it looked like they were doing okay. _"No problems with them so far, Spike is still breathing with his mouth closed"_ Hiccup thought to himself. Nadders were excellent fliers but had less wing size than Night Furies. If they get tired they start panting like dogs, so Hiccup had to watch out for that since he and Toothless were the ones setting the pace.

"How are you doing over there, Astrid?"

"We're fine" she shouted back. "We could go a little faster. I'm sure Spike has a little more speed in him." Astrid leaned forward and scratched his neck scales and Spike crooned back at her in appreciation.

"I'm pretty sure he does, but we've got a lot of open water to cross and don't forget the extra weight he's carrying."

"I haven't forgotten, I just think we could go faster is all I'm saying."

Hiccup shouted back; "We can do dragon races when we get home, Astrid. Let's just try to get there without straining ourselves or our dragons, okay?"

Astrid sank a little lower in her saddle but shouted back, "Okay". Hiccup could tell she wasn't happy.

"Look, Astrid, we've never had to fly this far with a load like this. Once we get back and get the dragons unloaded, we'll race you around the island. How's that sound?"

Astrid immediately brightened up at that. "You're on, dragon boy!" she shouted back.

Hiccup leaned forward and spoke to Toothless, "You hear that buddy? Astrid and Spike want to race when we get back, so save a little strength for it. You've got a reputation to uphold and I wouldn't want to see you lose a race because you were tired." Toothless just rolled his eyes at him. Hiccup laughed and scratched his neck.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Hiccup's reckoning, they were three quarters the way back to Berk. Toothless was doing fine, but Hiccup could see that Spike was getting a little tired. He was still breathing through his nose, but he was spacing his wingbeats out a little more trying to save energy. He was still able to keep up with Toothless, but the constant up and down motion from delaying his wingbeats probably made an uncomfortable flight for Astrid.

Hiccup was also worried about the ominous looking storm clouds ahead that stretched across their path. It looked to be a fairly large storm, so there was little chance of flying around it. Hiccup thought about it for a minute and shouted across to Astrid.

"Listen, Astrid, we don't have a lot of options here. I know Spike is a bit tired from flying so far with such a load, and Toothless is not much better, so we can't go back to the island we came from. We have to try and make it through this storm, Berk is just on the other side of it. If we have to, dump the deer carcasses, we can always go back and get some more. We have to try and save ourselves and our dragons. Are you with me?"

"I'm with you, Hiccup" Astrid shouted back.

Hiccup leaned forward and made himself flat against Toothless's back to reduce wind resistance. He said to him; "It's up to you now, buddy. Bring us all home." Toothless looked back at Hiccup and gave a single bark in reply before flying into the storm.

At first it didn't seem so bad. Sure, there was the wind buffeting them around and the rain stung a bit, but they were still flying straight. They could start to see some of the rocks that form the barrier islands around Berk, so Hiccup knew they were close. It was then that the storm unleashed its full fury. Howling winds nearly tore Hiccup and Astrid from the backs of their dragons. Both Toothless and Spike roared in pain and frustration as the wind nearly wrenched their wings out of their sockets. Hiccup had Toothless turn with the wind and motioned for Astrid and Spike to do the same. Going with the wind they were moving _away_ from Berk, but the flying was easier.

Hiccup shouted across to Astrid; "We can't fly straight into Berk, the winds are too strong."

"Then how are we going to get back?" Astrid shouted back.

"We tack. Remember sailing lessons?" Every child on Berk was taught at an early age how to sail.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that before?"

Hiccup smiled and shouted back; "I'm sure you would have thought of it eventually."

Astrid smiled, but immediately sobered; "What do we do about the deer?"

"Lose them!" he shouted back.

Astrid drew her belt knife and hesitated a moment before cutting the ropes holding the carcasses to Spike. When the bodies slid off his back to splash into the water below, Spike almost shook in relief.

Hiccup also cut the ropes holding the deer carcasses to Toothless, but didn't ditch his backpack. One reason was that his journal was packed away in there and didn't want to lose it. Another reason was that his safety harness was over the backpack straps and he would have to take the harness off to get to it. With the winds blowing around the way they were there was zero chance of that happening.

When he was done, Hiccup leaned forward and spoke to Toothless; "Okay, buddy, we can't fly straight home, we'll have to take the winds at an angle. It would take longer but we'll get there eventually. So you just keep us flying and I'll steer us there, okay?" Toothless looked back at Hiccup, laid one of his ear lobes on his hand, and grunted in reply. Hiccup adjusted the pedals to steer Toothless and said; "Alright, let's go!"

Once they turned at an angle to the wind, it tore at both dragons and riders, but they were able to manage it. Hiccup had Toothless take the lead in each turn so that Spike and Astrid would stay in the lee of Toothless's wings. They were making some progress now and some of the outer islands were closer each time they made a turn. On their sixth turn Astrid shouted that she saw something ahead of them.

"What is it?" Hiccup shouted back.

"I think it's a boat."

"What idiot would take a boat out in a storm like this?" Hiccup shouted to Astrid.

She shouted back; "Whoever it is they probably went out in good weather and the storm blew in on them unexpectedly. Now they can't get back. Hiccup, whoever it is, we have to help them!"

Hiccup sighed to himself and said quietly; "I suppose you're right" then a bit louder he said; "Alright, let's go get them!" and steered Toothless to intercept them.

They had to tack a few times to reach the boat and when they got there they noticed two things. One thing was that the mast snapped off at the waterline and the boat was taking on water rapidly. Two was that there was only one person in the boat. Hiccup circled closer to try to see who it was. He sucked in a breath when he noticed it was Snotlout! _"What the Hel is Snotlout doing out in a boat?"_ Hiccup thought to himself. Then he remembered, Snotlout didn't have any dragonriding duties at the moment because his Nightmare, Fireworm was tending her egg and wasn't flying. _"So, he was doing his part to help out the village. That's nice, now we'll have to rescue him and endanger ourselves in the process. Just another occupational hazard for a Viking!"_

Hiccup steered Toothless closer so he could shout down to Snotlout. When he was close enough so he could be heard over the wind he told him; "Snotlout, stand on the bow and hold your arms up. Toothless and I will come around and when he does grab on to his legs. We'll carry you to shore." Snotlout gave the thumbs up and moved to the bow. He stood there with his arms outstretched and waited for Toothless to come around. Hiccup waited until the boat started to rise on one of the waves before he had Toothless descend. When the boat reached the crest of a wave, Toothless dove toward the boat and caught Snotlout in his back claws. Hiccup asked; "Did you get him?" Toothless ducked his head down so he could see his back legs and saw Snotlout smiling at him. Toothless gave a gummy smile back.

"Snotlout, are you okay?" Hiccup shouted down.

"Yeah, I'm here. Just get me to shore, okay?" came the reply.

"Just hang on, we'll get you there." Hiccup leaned toward Toothless's ear and said; "Alright, buddy, let's go home."

Toothless turned in the direction of Berk, but the winds continued to blow from that direction. Hiccup adjusted the pedals so that they could continue to tack toward the island. They were now within sight of the main island, a few more tacks and they'll be home! Hiccup stroked Toothless's neck for encouragement. "Almost there, buddy" he said to him.

Hiccup was starting to feel they were going to make it home when the storm turned really ugly. Before it was just wind and rain, now lightning started flashing all around them. Hiccup groaned to himself; _"Great, just great. What else could go wrong?"_ His shoulders drooped when he looked back to see how Astrid and Spike were doing. Spike was working hard to stay airborne now. He was panting heavily and every wingstroke seemed to take a lot of effort. Astrid kept encouraging him, that seemed to be the only thing keeping him going.

Hiccup scanned the shoreline ahead of him trying to find some shelter. There! A cave with a small beach in front of it. It looked large enough for two dragons and three humans. Perfect! Hiccup pointed it out to Astrid and angled toward the beach.

Astrid was looking directly at Hiccup and Toothless when disaster struck. Toothless was still over the water and descending toward the beach when a bolt of lightning smashed into Toothless and Hiccup, enveloping them in a blinding white light. Astrid screamed and Spike roared in pain from the intensity of the flash. She could hear Snotlout scream in fear as he fell to the water. A small part of Astrid's conscious mind was saying that he would be okay, because Toothless was low to the water and slowing down for a landing, but the major part of her thoughts were toward Hiccup and Toothless. _"Are they okay? What the Hel just happened?"_ Blinking back tears, Astrid tried clearing her vision while Spike shook his head to try and clear his.

Once Astrid's vision was clear enough to see around her, she had Spike descend towards the beach. She looked around desperately for any sign of Hiccup and Toothless. She saw Snotlout swimming toward shore and waved to him. At least he was okay. As she neared the beach, she could see a part of Toothless's tail sticking out of the water. He was on his back with his tail pointed toward the beach. Astrid nearly panicked when she saw this, because if Hiccup was still in the saddle he would be pinned under Toothless and also be underwater. She had to act fast if she was going to do anything.

She directed Spike to land on the beach and instead of allowing him to collapse from exhaustion, she pleaded with him to help her pull Toothless from the water. If it was any dragon other than Toothless, Spike would have ignored her, but all the dragons owed Toothless and Hiccup a debt of gratitude for freeing them from the influence of the Red Death. He bit into the base of Toothless's tail to get a grip and started pulling. Astrid was a little worried when she saw this, not because Toothless would have Spike's toothmarks on him for the rest of his life, but because there was absolutely no reaction at all from Toothless. Astrid thought; _"If someone bit ME like that I'd sure be reacting in SOME way. Something must be seriously wrong."_

Astrid was standing by Spike's head offering encouragement to him. She didn't see the front part of Toothless when Spike pulled it clear of the water. Snotlout was wading through the surf toward shore and could see everything. When he did, he dropped to his knees in shock. He was still staring open mouthed at the sight of Toothless when Astrid came around to see. He came off his knees instantly and intercepted Astrid before she came around Toothless's outstretched wing.

"Let me go Snotlout! I have to help him! I have to know if Hiccup is alright!" Astrid screamed at him.

"Astrid, there's nothing you can do for them! Trust me, you don't want to see this!" Snotlout looked like he was fighting to keep from getting sick. However, Astrid was too hysterical to notice.

"Snotlout, I said... LET. ME. GO."

Snotlout has seen that look in Astrid's eyes before and didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath. With a final bow of his head and a muttered "I did try to warn you", Snotlout released his grip on her arms. Astrid gave him a questioning look and then walked around Toothless's wing to see what Snotlout was talking about. What she saw made her recoil in shock.

"No, Oh gods, no. No, no, no, no. Oh gods, this can't be happening. This is not happening. Hiccup has to be okay. He had to have been thrown clear somehow. He's somewhere..out...in...the..."

Astrid sank to her knees in the sand. She looked again at the ruin that once was a proud Night Fury and realized that Hiccup was still in the saddle when the lightning bolt struck. Everything forward of Toothless's front legs, including his head, neck, saddle, and rider were completely and utterly obliterated.

Hiccup and Toothless were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Chapter 2 – Beached**

**Chapter 2 – Beached**

* * *

 _  
**All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.**   
_

* * *

Hiccup slowly regained consciousness under a blazing sun. His first thought was; " _Am I dead?_ " He was soaking wet and had a splitting headache. His second thought was; " _I must be alive, I hurt too much to be dead_ ". Hiccup pulled himself into a sitting position, groaning as he did so. He crossed his arms over his knees and gently laid his aching head on them.

Once his headache subsided, Hiccup shaded his eyes until they could adjust to the brighter sunlight. When his eyes were used to the brightness, Hiccup looked around to try and figure out where he was and saw that he was lying just at the edge of the water.

" _Okay, I'm on a beach. That sounds about right."_ He looked around for the cave, but there were only trees at the edge of the sand. _"That's odd, how did we get on a different beach?"_ He also noticed the weather was much warmer than Berk and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. _"How long was I out? Did the storm dissipate that quickly? This is getting weirder by the moment. It was just turning spring when we left Berk, how could it be summer already?"_

Hiccup felt the need to explore a bit more to try and find some answers. He started to get to his feet, but immediately fell flat on his face. He looked back at his legs and noticed they were tangled in the straps of Toothless's saddle. Hiccup rolled over to untangle his legs and noticed the burned edges of the straps. _"How the Hel did THIS happen?"_ Hiccup thought. Then he remembered the storm and how the lightning bolts were striking closer and closer. _"We must have been hit by lightning. That would explain the burned straps but NOT how I wound up in one piece on a strange beach with my dragon nowhere in sight!"_ Hiccup looked around desperately for any tracks that Toothless may have left behind if he crawled out of the water. There were none to be seen.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouted out to the surrounding woods, hoping that Toothless was just beyond the trees. The only sound coming from the woods was the chirping of insects and the wind through the branches.

Hiccup faced the open ocean and tried again. "TOOTHLESS!" There was no answering roar of a Night Fury. The only sounds that reached Hiccup's ears were the gentle lapping of the waves on the shore.

Hiccup rummaged through his backpack and took out the artificial foot he made over the winter and attached it to the bottom of his fake leg. He left the saddle where he was standing and walked up the beach several hundred yards to see if there were any tracks coming out of the water. When he found none, he reversed direction and searched the opposite end of the beach with still no sign of Toothless. Hiccup was starting to fear the worst, but he refused to give up just yet. Returning to the saddle, he laid it out to see if he could figure out just where the lightning bolt hit. When it was completely laid out, Hiccup just stared at it in shock.

Hiccup initially thought the straps were burned off, but looking at them now he could see that they were cut by something extremely hot, as if someone took a white-hot blade to cut them. The back part of the saddle where Hiccup sat was also cut off. He wasn't affected because he was leaning forward to streamline himself so Toothless could fly easier. The pedals were intact, but the metal rings that went around the upper part of Toothless's legs and made the framework to hold the pedals in place were cut away as well. The cuts were just as clean as the ones on the leather straps. _"Now what the Hel could_ _cut metal just as quickly, easily, and cleanly as leather and why didn't it affect me?"_ Hiccup thought.

Hiccup took out his sketchbook and did a quick sketch of the front part of Toothless from memory. He then added the saddle, harness, and all the components of Toothless's flying rig. He then drew himself as if he was flying on Toothless's back and remembered to draw himself leaning forward in the saddle. He then made marks where the saddle and straps were cut and included the angle of the cuts on each one. When the drawing was done, Hiccup looked at it for a minute and thought; _"That's weird, all the angles of the cuts suggest that something circular went through them. And if it went through leather and metal like it was nothing, then how did it affect Tooth...no. Oh, no!"_

Hiccup dropped his sketchbook in the sand and sank to his knees. Great teardrops splashed onto his leggings when he realized that Toothless would never be coming out of the water.

o0o0o0o

It was late afternoon when Hiccup finished his task. Standing up and brushing the dirt from his legs, he looked at the small memorial he built for Toothless. There was a small grave that contained the only thing remaining that was essentially Toothless, his saddle. Hiccup cleared his throat.

"Well, buddy, I hope you like it. I tried to pick a spot with a nice view." Hiccup had to stop to choke down a sob. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you through this, bud. I'm sorry I shot you down last year, but I'm not sorry about the good times we've had. If I didn't shoot you down and injured your tail, we'd still be at war and you'd still be under the influence of the Red Death. We'd have never met and learned to trust each other and eventually become friends. You're the best friend I've ever had, Toothless. If I ever get to meet another dragon and bond with it, even if it is another Night Fury, I would never feel the same as I feel about you. I miss you already buddy, and I hope you're happy wherever you are."

Hiccup squatted down to place a hand on a large rock marking the gravesite. After bowing his head in farewell, he picked up his backpack, turned around, and walked away without looking back.

* * *

 _A/N_ : _Hi, all. Short chapter, but I wanted to keep events separate. I should have more in a few days_. _As always, please leave a review after reading_. _Thanks._


	3. Say Hello to my Little Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup learns more about where he's stranded and finds a new friend.

Chapter 3 – Say Hello To My Little Friend

 

"speech"

" _thoughts_ "

_:dragon speech:_

 

All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey

 

Hiccup stayed as close to the beach as he could. He wanted to use it as a reference as he made his way through this unfamiliar land. He looked to his left as the sun was sinking lower over the water and thought; " _So, it looks like I'm heading North. I guess it's as good a direction as any_ ".

He started looking for a place to set up camp for the night. He walked toward some seaside cliffs, hoping to find an overhang or a small cave for protection from the elements. He chose a small alcove at the base of the cliffs that was well above the high tide mark. Taking off his backpack and leaving it there, he walked down the beach gathering firewood. When he had a large enough stack, he went back to the alcove and built a small fire.

As he ate his dinner of salted deer meat, Hiccup stared into the fire and tried to analyze his situation. " _Okay, I'm in a strange land that's not Berk, that much is certain_ ". He scratched his chin. " _What I don't understand is how the Hel did I wind up in a land far to the South of Berk? The weather alone tells me I'm much further South than I've ever been on a boat or flying on Toothless_ ". He felt his insides twist when he thought of his best friend. _"Sorry I couldn't save you, buddy. I sure do miss you_ ". After a few more frustrating hours of analysis with no solution in sight, he laid his furs out to get some sleep.

The next morning, Hiccup was awakened by a strange bugling sound. " _A horn doesn't make a sound like that_ " he thought. " _Must be some kind of animal. I wonder what it is_ ". He walked out onto the beach and looked around for the creature that made the sound. When he heard it again and turned in the direction it was coming from, he got the shock of his life.

" _DRAGONS! But what kind of dragons are they_?" He has never seen dragons like that before! They were slightly larger than a Monstrous Nightmare and had much different coloration. There were only two of them, flying away from him and getting smaller every second, but he could see that one of them was deep blue from head to tail and the other was completely green. " _That bugling must be how they communicate with each other. I wish I could see one of them up close_ ". Unfortunately, they were only visible for a few seconds before they flew out of sight, but that was enough to pique his curiosity. " _I don't know if they're heading back to their nest, but since that's the direction I'm heading in I hope to see some more of them along the way_."

He ate some more of the deer meat for his breakfast and tried some small reddish fruits he saw growing on some trees nearby. When he found them very tasty, he picked some more of them for later. Gathering his supplies, he set off North again in the hope of seeing new dragons.

After walking for most of the morning, he stopped to rest and have some lunch. After having some more deer meat and a few of the delicious fruits he collected, he took out a braided line and some hooks. " _Might as well see if I can catch a few fish_ " he thought. Using a small piece of deer meat for bait, he tossed the line out and waited for a bite. He didn't wait long before he had a huge jerk on the line and pulled in a very large fish. Like everything else in this strange land, it was a fish he's never seen before, but he gutted and cleaned it. Wrapping it in some broad leaves, he put it in the pack with the rest of his supplies. " _At least food is not going to be a problem, now all I need to do is find some water_ " he thought.

Later that afternoon, he found a small stream that had good water. After filling his water skins and repacking them, he sat next to the stream to rest a while. Leaning back on his backpack, he closed his eyes and tried to listen to the sounds of the forest around him. He heard the chirping of insects and the sound of waves on the beach a short distance away. He was disappointed that he didn't hear the bugling of the dragons he heard that morning, but he heard a chirping sound that got him curious.

Opening one eye slowly, he checked his surroundings. He nearly jumped in surprise when he saw several small dragons playing next to the stream that were the same coloration as the larger ones he saw earlier. He moved slowly in order to not make any noise that may startle them and hid behind some bushes so he could watch what they were doing. The little dragons reminded him of Terrible Terrors, although these were a bit smaller. There were blues and greens like the larger dragons, but he also saw several brown dragons, two bronze colored ones, and even a brilliant gold one! From what he could see of their interaction, all the dragons deferred to the gold one. " _That one must be their leader. I'm not sure if it's a male or female, but all the others are subservient to it_ " he thought.

When all the dragons had a drink and a bath, the leader bugled a note and all of them took off toward the beach. Hiccup grabbed his pack and tried to follow them, but he soon lost them in the trees. Sighing, he continued in the direction of the beach hoping to see them again. When he cleared the trees and neared the waterline, he could see several of the small dragons in the tidepools collecting crabs and catching fish. He noted that if they caught something small they ate it immediately, but flew the larger specimens they caught to a spot further up the beach. He mentally marked that spot and went back into the trees to make his way there while under cover.

After circling around to get behind the spot, he paused to see if he could get a better fix on the location he saw earlier. When he could see a dragon flying from the water with a fish in its claws, he watched carefully to see where it was going. Fortunately, he guessed fairly well where their destination was, because he was only fifty feet away from where the small brown dragon deposited its load. Crouching low to stay hidden behind the bushes, he crept closer to see what they were doing. He crawled on his belly to get under a set of bushes which was right next to the group of dragons. All of them seemed to be fixated on a depression in the sand. " _Oh, wow, it's a dragon nest_!" he thought.

Hiccup could see that the gold and bronze dragons were scraping the top layer of sand from the nest, exposing the eggs to the sunlight. When all the eggs were exposed, the bronze ones backed away leaving the gold one alone in the nest. Then the gold started turning the eggs, checking each one carefully. After she was done, she left the nest to stand next to the two bronzes. " _The gold must be the queen. Nothing but the queen would handle unhatched dragon eggs_ " he thought. " _Then that means the bronzes are her mates_ ". He could hear a strange humming noise and realized it was coming from the dragons! " _Wait a minute, they're gathering food and not eating it, and now they're in a group staring at a dragon's nest...Oh gods, the eggs are hatching! They brought food for the baby dragons! Maybe I could give them something to eat as well_ ".

Hiccup crawled backwards to get out from under the bushes and went to the nearby trees. There he took off his backpack and took out the fish he caught earlier that day. Unwrapping it he took a good whiff of it. " _Good, it's still fresh. Wouldn't want to give a newborn dragon an upset stomach from spoiled meat_ ". Leaving his backpack by the trees and taking the fish with him, he crawled back to his previous spot under the bushes next to the nest and waited.

Fortunately, he didn't have long to wait because he could hear the sound of eggs cracking. Within moments, several small baby dragons were crawling out of the depression, crying in hunger. The adults tore apart some of the food and were feeding it to them. The infant dragons were gulping down the food as fast as the adults could feed it to them. There were quite a few eggs in the nest and to Hiccup it seemed they were all hatching at the same time. In short order the adults were overwhelmed by crying, screeching, hungry baby dragons, so some of them wandered away from the group looking for food. Hiccup used his knife to carve a chunk of fish away from the carcass and tossed it into the sand close to the nest. An infant bronze colored dragon pounced on it, swallowed it down, and looked around crying for more. He carved another piece and tossed it closer to his hiding place, enticing the baby dragon closer. The bronze one shrieked and gobbled that one down as well. He kept cutting pieces from the fish and feeding the small bronze dragon, drawing him closer each time. When Hiccup got him to come near him, he was surprised to have it crawl onto his forearm and wrap its tail around his wrist. It continued to cry in hunger, so Hiccup kept feeding him. After a third of the fish was gone, the baby dragon gave a huge burp, wrapped its tail and talons snugly around Hiccup's wrist, and went to sleep.

Hiccup was amazed that a creature so young would trust him so completely. Even Terrible Terrors, which were some of the easiest dragons to train back home in Berk, had to be handled carefully just after they hatch because they will try to burn and eat most anything they could reach. Compared to them, this little bronze one seemed to be fully trained just out of its shell!

He was stroking his hide when he looked around to see what the other dragons were doing. He became alarmed when all of them took off to fly up the beach. Hiccup shook his arm to wake up the sleeping baby. "Hey, wake up! All your brothers and sisters are leaving! Don't you want to go with them?" The tiny dragon looked at the group of dragons flying away, gave a single chirp at them, and laid its head back down on Hiccup's arm. Hiccup lifted his arm so he could look the baby dragon in the eye. "Your family is leaving you, don't you even care?" The little bronze dragon looked him directly in the eye and rubbed the back of its head on Hiccup's hand. His jaw dropped when he realized what he did when he fed the baby. " _Of course he doesn't care, they mean nothing to him. I'm his family now because I'm the one who provided food. Oh, well, he's small enough. I suppose there won't be too much trouble taking care of him_."

He smiled as he stroked the tiny creature. He noticed that there were no scales, just a soft leathery hide. The small dragon crooned in his throat and leaned into the stroking. Hiccup gasped in shock at what he was feeling. " _Strange, but I could almost feel the love this little baby dragon has for me_!" When the little dragon fell asleep, he stood up and walked back to where he left his pack. After throwing the strap over one shoulder, he had to shift the dragon to his shoulder so he could get his arm through the other strap. He could feel the baby's annoyance at having its nap interrupted, but he calmed down once he was settled on Hiccup's shoulder. " _So, it wasn't just my imagination, I CAN feel this creature's emotions! Never heard of that one before. I guess I'll have to re-write the Dragon Manual when I get back home_."

He continued on his way North in higher spirits than when he started out that morning. He found that he can gather food fairly easily, he now has plenty of fresh water, and he has made a new friend. It made focusing on his goals a lot easier as well. First, he wanted to find out where the large dragons that he saw earlier were nesting. If he could make friends with one of them as easily as he did this small one, getting back home would be a lot easier. Second, he wanted to find a human habitation and try to find out exactly WHERE in the world he was.

He could see that the sun was getting lower to the horizon, so he started looking for a place to spend the night. He found a small cave in some seaside cliffs. This one had a small tidepool running right inside, but there was a ledge high and dry above the high tide mark. " _This will do for now. I could even go fishing from the comfort of my own cave_!" he thought.

Somehow, Hiccup was able to take off the backpack without disturbing the baby bronze dragon sleeping on his shoulder. He left his backpack in the cave while he was gathering firewood. He then returned to the cave and lit a small fire to cook the remainder of the fish he caught earlier that day. The smell of cooking fish must have awoken the baby dragon because he immediately started crying that he was hungry.

"Aw, come on, I fed you just a few hours ago! You CAN'T be hungry already!" In response to this, the baby just cried louder. Hiccup could even feel the infant dragon's hunger! "Hmm, I guess you really ARE hungry, little fella. All right, here you go." Hiccup broke off some of the cooked fish and held it out to the small dragon who immediately started bolting it down.

"Whoa, Whoa, slow down there, little guy. Wouldn't want you to choke on your food, okay? Eat a little slower and chew between bites. I'll have plenty of food here for you, it's not going anywhere." Hiccup reassured the little creature by stroking his hide. This seemed to calm the little dragon down.

After feeding the dragon and laying him on his furs so he could sleep it off, Hiccup stepped outside the cave so he could see the stars. He figured if he could see the positions of the constellations he could get a fix as to where in the world he was. It only took five minutes of looking at the night sky for him to realize that he was a very long way from home. NONE of the known constellations were visible. " _That should be impossible, unless I'm completely on the bottom of the world_ " he thought. Hiccup's head started spinning at the possibility of that. " _This shouldn't even be possible! Even on a dragon traveling at top speed it would wake weeks to get to the other side of the world. I know I wasn't unconscious for THAT long_!"

After looking at the night sky for a few more minutes, Hiccup shook his head and walked back into the cave. After placing another log on the fire, he picked up the sleeping dragon and placed it in his lap. The little dragon started purring in contentment and Hiccup had to smile. "Life is simple for you, isn't it little guy? Just have someone give you food and protection and you'll love them unconditionally. Wish my live was as easy as yours." Hiccup leaned his head back on his furs. He looked at the stars outside the cave and thought; " _Odin, what am I going to do? How am I going to get home_?" Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes when no answer came. He really wasn't expecting one anyway.

Hiccup was awakened the next morning by the crying of a hungry baby dragon. He grumbled; "All right, all right, I heard you. You're starving to death, your stomach is going to eat itself from the inside out, you're ready to chew on your leg as a snack, I get it. You want to be fed and fed right now. Just let me get something from my pack." He fed the rest of the cooked fish to the dragon last night so the only food he had was the salted deer meat. Hoping he liked it, Hiccup started carving smaller pieces from it so the tiny dragon wouldn't choke. Holding the piece out, the bronze sniffed it once and snatched it out of Hiccup's hand. "Wow, I guess you really DO like it! Or are you just so hungry you'll eat anything?" In response, the baby gave an angry screech that could be easily interpreted as; " _Shut up and FEED ME_!" Hiccup laughed and held out another piece for him to eat.

Hiccup did a quick inventory of his supplies after the little bronze fell asleep after his meal. He had plenty of water, so that wasn't a concern. What was a concern was his food supplies. Keeping a miniature bottomless pit satisfied was going to take a lot more than the few slabs of deer meat he had. He was going to have to use some of it as bait and do some fishing. " _Might as well do some now while he's sleeping_ " he thought. Carving a small piece from a slab, Hiccup baited the hook and tossed the line into the water right inside the cave. In a few minutes, he had a small pile of fish by his feet. " _Yep, the fishing sure is good here in the South_ " he thought.

However, his next catch wasn't so good. As Hiccup hauled in what he hooked, he could see that it was some kind of an eel. " _Aw, no, I hope my dragon doesn't smell this_." He swung it around and bashed it on the ground to stun it so he could remove the hook. He then uncoiled the line from its body and was straightening out the kinks in the line. As he was doing this, his dragon woke up and sniffed the air. Hiccup was prepared for a screech of fear and having to retrieve his frightened dragon from a corner of the cave. What he was NOT prepared for was a squeal of joy as the baby dragon launched himself from his resting place and seemingly attacked the eel. At first, Hiccup thought the bronze was trying to eat the eel, but watching him for a moment it was clear that's not what the young dragon had in mind. What he was doing was rolling on it. " _What the_..." Hiccup bent down to pick the eel up only to have his dragon screech at him. "Calm down, you'll get it back. I just want to see what's so special about it." The small dragon continued to complain, but Hiccup just ignored him.

Rubbing his fingers along the skin of the eel, Hiccup first thought it was slime like fish normally have on the outside of their bodies. But when he bent down to the water to wash it off, it didn't wash away like fish slime normally does. This time it felt like an oily residue was on his fingers. Hiccup looked at his small friend and remembered that he didn't have scales like the dragons back home, but a soft, leathery hide. " _So maybe this oil is good for his skin? Only one way to find out_ ". After scraping off a handful of slime from the eel, Hiccup bent down and placed the small dragon in his lap. He then proceeded to rub the oily slime all over the little dragon. The baby squeaked and purred and wriggled in pleasure as Hiccup rubbed it into his skin. Hiccup noticed some dry spots in his hide that seemed to disappear as he rubbed the slime into them. When he was done, Hiccup asked; "There, does that make you feel better? There's no more dry spots, but now you stink like eel. I hope you're satisfied!" The only reply Hiccup received was a contented purr.

Hiccup thought the little dragon was going to go back to sleep, but he stayed awake and was staring intently at the sky outside the cave. Hiccup could see that the dragon's eyes actually changed color! " _Huh? I could swear his eyes were blue a few minutes ago and now they're yellow. How does he do that_?" He became concerned when he noticed the little dragon was trembling. Hiccup picked him up and started stroking him, but it didn't calm the little creature down. He continued to shake, in fear or anger Hiccup wasn't really sure. Hiccup couldn't even read the emotions coming off the small dragon. "Hey, it's alright. Calm down, nothing's going to hurt you." The emotions only got stronger and Hiccup could see that the small bronze's eyes were now swirling red! "Okay, now I am officially freaking out! You can't just change your eye colors on a whim!" The small dragon ignored him and continued to stare outside.

Hiccup was going to try something else to console his dragon when he heard it, the bugling call the large dragons made. " _All right! I'll get to see one of the LARGE dragons today! Hopefully I'll get to see where their nest is located_." Hiccup put his small friend down and started toward the entrance of the cave, only to stop in his tracks as an angry, screeching, bronze dragon flew in front of him and blocked his path. "HEY! Get out of the way, you little pest! I want to go see the bigger dragons. I know they're just outside, I heard them. Now, get out of my way!" Hiccup tried walking around the little bronze, but the dragon just shifted positions to continue blocking Hiccup. "I don't believe this! You're not going to let me go outside? What's outside that you don't want me to see?"

Hiccup could hear a sizzling sound, like something hot being dunked into water. He stayed where he was, but looked past his hovering dragon to see what was going on outside. What he saw was silver strands falling from the sky. When they hit the water it made the sizzling sound, but a few strands hit the beach. The ones in the sand seemed to writhe for a bit before dissolving into a oily, messy puddle, but one or two of them hit some driftwood lying on the beach. What happened next was something Hiccup swore was far scarier than something that came from his darkest nightmares. The strand that hit the driftwood started expanding as it was EATING the wood! The stuff seemed to divide and expand as it ate. Fortunately, it didn't last long. After all the wood within reach was eaten up, each one of the organisms broke apart until there was nothing left but a black mess.

The full ramifications of what just happened hit Hiccup like Thor's hammer. If he went outside into... _that_...then all that would be left of him would be a puddle of black goo. His little dragon prevented that from happening by keeping him in the cave. "You saved me" Hiccup whispered to the dragon. "You actually saved my life, and I called you a pest. I'm sorry for saying that. Forgive me?" Hiccup held his arms out to the little dragon. His eyes changed from red to a greenish-yellow shade and then quickly went to blue as he flew into Hiccup's arms.

"You're my little guardian. I think I'll call you Heimdall. What do you think, do you like it?" Heimdall rubbed his head against Hiccup's cheek and purred in response. Hiccup laughed; "I take that as a yes!"

 

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	4. Incommunicado

 

   
  
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**Chapter 4 - Incommunicado**

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_**All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey** _

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Taking Heimdall's calm demeanor as a sign that the threat was over, Hiccup walked outside the cave to have a look around. He avoided the areas where he saw the...things dissolving into black puddles. The sand around where the things landed was still blackened, but the actual puddles were drying up rapidly and the residue blowing away as ash. _"I definitely need to find a way home because this is a VERY strange land!"_ he thought.

Hiccup was beginning to wonder what _exactly_ the strange stuff was when he heard a sound he was hoping to hear again, the bugling of large dragons. Hearing one just behind him, he turned around to look, only to reflexively duck as the shadow of a VERY large dragon passed over him. Hiccup turned quickly to see where the dragon was going and was startled to see the dragon circling to land. He got another shock to see a person RIDING on the back of the dragon!

_"DRAGONRIDERS? HERE? I thought the people of Berk were the only ones on Earth who have trained dragons to accept riders! Looks like I was wrong. "_ Hiccup watched in awe as the large brown dragon descended and backwinged for a gentle landing on the sand. The rider unfastened some leather straps around his legs and slid down onto the extended foreleg of his dragon. _"Wow, they sure have these dragons well trained"_ he thought. _"If we had dragons that big in Berk, we'd either have to have ladders or take a chance with a twisted ankle or a broken leg each time we dismounted"._

The rider stood next to his dragon as he removed his gloves and tucked them into his belt. He then removed his helmet and a device which had clear glass that fitted over his eyes. Hiccup has never seen anything like them before. _"Those must be for keeping the wind out of his eyes while he's flying. Pretty handy, sure wish I knew how they made them"_ he thought. Tucking the helmet and the strange eyepieces under his arm, the rider looked at his dragon a moment before walking toward Hiccup.

Hiccup could see that the rider was not much older than he was. He was slightly taller than Hiccup and had light skin and brown hair. That was a little surprising to him. _"I've heard tales of the people in Southern lands"_ he thought. _"I was told they were all dark skinned savages. Hmm, looks like I've got a lot more to do than just rewrite the Dragon Manual. I'll have to debunk a few myths as well!"_

The rider stopped in front of Hiccup and smiled when he saw Heimdall perched on his shoulder. Hiccup smiled back but the smile on his face quickly gave way to one of confusion when the rider pointed to Heimdall and spoke for the first time. Hiccup didn't understand a word he said! The rider saw the look on Hiccup's face and said something different. Hiccup's look of confusion became a frown and he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't understand a word you're saying" he told the rider. Now it was the rider's turn to frown. He said something else that sounded like a question. Even though Hiccup couldn't understand what he said, he felt it best if he shook his head.

"Sorry, I still don't understand a word you're saying." Hiccup grinned and shrugged his shoulders, trying not to offend the dragonrider. The dragonrider, however, didn't look offended, just confused. He stood back and scratched his chin for a moment. When it seemed he had an idea, he smiled and pointed to himself and said, "B'net".

Hiccup's eyes grew wide. _"Did he just tell me his name?"_ he thought. _"Might as well give it a try"._

"B'net?"

The dragonrider smiled and nodded. Still pointing to himself, he repeated, "B'net". Then he pointed at Hiccup.

"My name?" he asked. B'net nodded. Hiccup pointed to himself and said, "Hiccup".

B'net just smiled and said, "Hiccup". Then he pointed at Heimdall.

Hiccup looked at Heimdall who crooned and rubbed his head against his cheek. "You want to know this little guy's name?" he asked. B'net nodded. "Heimdall" Hiccup said.

B'net's smile grew broader. He pointed to Heimdall and said, "Heimdall". Heimdall looked at B'net and gave him a single chirp. _"Heh, the little guy knows when someone is talking about him"_ Hiccup laughed to himself. Then he pointed to Hiccup and said, "Hiccup". Then he pointed to himself and Hiccup said it the same time he did, "B'net".

B'net's eyes grew wide and Hiccup wondered briefly if he offended the dragonrider in some way until B'net broke down and started laughing hysterically. Hiccup joined in his laughter a moment later and thought; _"This is probably one of the strangest days I've ever had. I've seen weird stuff that falls from the sky and devours every living thing it can reach. I've met a dragonrider in a foreign land and neither one of us can understand a word we say to each other and yet here we are laughing it up like old friends. Strange day indeed"._

After their laughter died down, B'net gestured for Hiccup to follow him. He started to follow until he realized B'net was walking back to his dragon! Hiccup paused for a moment before he realized that he's not just walking up to a strange dragon to befriend it, he's going to be introduced! He continued the rest of the way with B'net until he stood just in front of the huge brown dragon. B'net said something to the dragon and the dragon lowered his head until it was at Hiccup's level.

Hiccup remembered everything he taught the other dragon riders back at Berk. _Remain calm, show no fear._ Extending one hand, Hiccup let it hover just above the dragon's snout. B'net seemed surprised by the gesture, but the dragon simply moved his head forward until he made contact with Hiccup's hand. Hiccup smiled and gently rubbed the dragon's snout, who rumbled in apparent pleasure at the contact. Hiccup looked at B'net and pointed to the dragon with his other hand.

"Meznith" B'net said with apparent pride.

Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Meznith" he said.

B'net smiled and nodded. Then he turned to Meznith and said something to him. Hiccup could only understand "Hiccup" and "Heimdall", so he supposed it was an introduction. What he did NOT expect was a response that could only have come from Meznith! He didn't understand the words, just his and Heimdall's names, but Hiccup could "hear" words forming in his mind! His eyes grew wide and he staggered back from Meznith in shock, but B'net just smiled and nodded. It dawned on Hiccup that it was perfectly normal for these Southern dragons to mindspeak to their riders and to whoever else they felt like speaking to! _"Wow! One more strange thing to add to a day full of strange happenings. What a tale I'm going to tell when I get back home!"_ he thought.

It seemed Heimdall wanted to get in on the "conversation" as well, so he leaned forward from Hiccup's shoulder and started chirping at Meznith. The large brown seemed to be friendly to the little bronze because he crooned a greeting as well. Heimdall gave the big brown a final chirp before laying his head back on Hiccup's shoulder, keeping his eyes on Meznith the whole time. "Made a new friend, did you?" Hiccup asked as he rubbed Heimdall's head. Heimdall leaned into the rubbing and chirped in response.

B'net watched this for a few moments before he said something to Meznith. Meznith crouched lower to the ground and offered his foreleg to assist B'net. Hiccup watched this from the side and wondered; _"Is he going to leave now? What about me? Is he just going to leave me here?"_ Heimdall's eyes started to whirl yellow then orange as he picked up Hiccup's distress. Hiccup waved his arms to get B'net's attention. Once B'net was situated on Meznith's back, he looked at Hiccup and smiled as he gestured for him to climb on. Hiccup asked, "You want me to come with you?" accompanied with hand gestures hoping the dragonrider understood. Apparently, B'net got the gist of what Hiccup was trying to convey, because he smiled and gestured for him again to climb on. Hiccup held up his hand gesturing for B'net to wait and walked back to the cave for his backpack and supplies. Once he got everything packed, he walked back to where Meznith was still crouched in the sand. When he got closer, he noticed B'net staring at his left leg.

"Oh, this?" Hiccup said as he lifted it for B'net to see better. "I lost this about a year ago. It gave me problems at first, but now I can get around with very little pain." B'net looked at it for a second longer and shrugged. Hiccup wasn't sure if B'net didn't understand or if he thought what was said wasn't that important. _"I sure hope we find a better way to communicate. I could easily say or do SOMETHING that can have nasty consequences. Especially around people whose dragons are bigger than any I've ever seen, except for one."_ Hiccup shuddered at the memory of his and Toothless's battle with the Red Death. _"And I hope to never see one that big and nasty ever again!"_

B'net frowned at Hiccup and said, "Hiccup" to get his attention. B'net then made a show of fastening his jacket, then pointing up, then hugging himself and shaking as if he was cold. Hiccup looked confused for a moment, then he understood. _"He's trying to tell me it's going to get cold where we are flying and I might need something warmer."_ Hiccup held up a hand to tell him to wait and dug into his backpack. At the moment, he was wearing a thin shirt because of the warmer weather. Now he pulled out the undershirt and fur tunic he wore whenever he went flying back home. Memories of flying caused him to choke down an involuntary sob. _"I'm going flying again on a dragon and it's not Toothless."_ Hiccup put Heimdall on his backpack so he could put the garments on. As he pulled the undershirt over his head, he paused to wipe his moist eyes so B'net couldn't see.

Once he was dressed properly and had his backpack secured, Hiccup placed Heimdall on his shoulder and approached Meznith. Seeing how B'net was bending down to help him, Hiccup put his foot on Meznith's extended foreleg, grabbed B'net's forearm, and swung into position behind him. B'net pointed to some straps and gestured slowly to show Hiccup how they were secured. Hiccup wrapped the straps around his legs and one around his middle, tightened them, then secured them to the harness. B'net checked it over, nodded once, and turned forward to give directions for Meznith to take off.

Before he did, however, Hiccup had a moment of panic. "Wait, wait!" he shouted. "What about Heimdall?" he said, pointing at his bronze. "Aren't we going to secure him too?" B'net looked at the little bronze dragon and shrugged. He then opened his jacket and made a gesture as if he was putting something inside and wrapping his jacket around it. Hiccup nodded in understanding. _"Ah, I see. He wants me to put Heimdall under my fur tunic. Good idea, that way he won't fall off. I know he has wings and he won't get hurt if he falls off, but if he does he won't be able to keep up with a big dragon like Meznith"._

Hiccup looked at his little friend. "Heimdall, buddy, I know you may want to stay outside and enjoy the flight, but I need to put you under my jacket". Heimdall got the gist of what Hiccup was trying to do and wanted none of it. His eyes started whirling orange and he was giving off a low hiss. "Hey, hey, don't be that way. I just don't want to lose you if something happens. I've already lost one friend in a flying accident, I don't want to lose another". Sensing Hiccup's distress, Heimdall's eyes went from orange to yellow and he started mewling. He also rubbed his head against Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup rubbed his head and said, "Hey, it's alright. I understand you don't like to be confined, but if you do this I promise lots of extra food and a good oil rubdown when we get to where we're going. Sound good?" Hiccup wasn't sure if he understood the words, but he was pretty sure Heimdall understood the emotions behind them because his eyes turned blue-green and he started humming happily. Hiccup smiled and told Heimdall before he wrapped his jacket around him, "Thanks, buddy. See you when we get there". Hiccup then nodded to B'net to show he was ready.

Meznith extended his wings, crouched low to the ground, and sprang into the air with a powerful downstroke of his large wings. After two more wingbeats, he stopped ascending and leveled off. Hiccup was starting to enjoy the flight. _"Meznith sure gets off the ground fast for a dragon as big as he is"_ he thought. Hiccup was looking around and enjoying the scenery. B'net turned his head and said something to Hiccup. Of course, he didn't understand what he said but he caught Meznith's name in there. _"What did he say? Is Meznith going to do something?"_ Hiccup barely completed that thought before everything went completely black. _"What the...? What just happened? What the Hel just happened?"_ He couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't hear ANYTHING at all. It was as if the entire universe ceased to exist. All Hiccup could feel was the bone-numbing cold on the outside of his skin and a rising wave of despair coming from within. Just when he thought he couldn't stand it anymore, they were out of that dreadful place and back in the sunshine. Hiccup had to clench his teeth to keep from screaming. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing to calm himself down. _"Gods, what WAS that? I hope I never see that dreadful place again! It felt like death!"_

Once Hiccup's breathing was under control, he opened his eyes and looked around. He drew in a quick breath in shock, there were dragons everywhere! Hiccup could see blue, green, brown, and a few bronze dragons circling a large extinct volcanic crater. _"WOW! DRAGONS! But wait, how did we...?"_ He looked at the surrounding land. When they took off, the beach was just below them. Now it was nowhere in sight. _"Okay, that's just weird. How did we get here so quickly? I know we weren't in the dark place that long"_ he thought.

Meznith bugled to the other dragons below. One of them answered him. Whether it was a greeting or a challenge Hiccup didn't know, but they started their descent into the crater. He could see caves at all levels of the crater wall, most of them with dragons lying in front of them. _"Must be enjoying the sunshine"_ he chuckled. _"Dragons will be dragons"_.

Meznith circled the bowl of the crater and landed in front of a large cave that opened at ground level. B'net unhooked his straps and gestured for Hiccup to do the same. Hiccup was unbuckling his straps as B'net stood on Meznith's foreleg and gestured for Hiccup to do the same. Once both of them were standing on his foreleg, Meznith lowered it so they could step off. Meznith craned his head around so he could see his riders. B'net laid his forehead on Meznith's snout and rubbed the ridges over his eyes. Meznith just closed his eyes and hummed in his throat. Hiccup felt a pang of jealousy as he watch the two interact. _"They have a deeper bond than anything Toothless or I ever had"_ he thought. Feeling like a voyeur, he turned away from watching them.

Hiccup opened his jacket and Heimdall scrambled out to sit on his shoulder. He started chirping madly at the sight of all the huge dragons around him. Hiccup rubbed Heimdall on the head and neck and he crooned in response. "How are you doing, little buddy? Enjoy the ride?" Heimdall looked at him with eyes swirling blue and cheeped at him. Hiccup laughed and said, "I take that as a yes".

Hiccup started looking around the crater when B'net tapped him on the shoulder and made a gesture for him to follow. They went into the large cave opening and Hiccup saw that it opened into an immense cavern. There were smaller caves branching off from the main one, but Hiccup could see that the main cavern was set up as a meeting place for all the people dwelling here. Hiccup followed B'net around the tables set up in the cavern and went into one of the smaller rooms set off from the main one.

B'net gestured to one of the chairs in the room and took a seat at a different one. Hiccup looked puzzled for a moment and sat in the indicated chair. Looking at B'net, he noticed his eyes going unfocused for a few moments. _"What the...? Is he okay? It looked like he wasn't there for a few seconds"_ Hiccup thought. When his eyes refocused, B'net looked at Hiccup and nodded. Hiccup wondered what that was all about when the curtain over the door parted and a man and a woman walked in. B'net immediately stood up so Hiccup did as well. The woman started asking questions and B'net tried to answer, but he kept getting interrupted by more questions. Hiccup had the feeling that these people weren't happy about something. _"I hope I'm not the cause of their problems"_ he thought. _"That would be all I need, stuck in a strange land and the first thing I do when I meet someone is piss off the natives"._

The woman approached Hiccup and started barraging HIM with questions as well. Hiccup held up his hands hoping to fend off her assault and said, "Look, lady, I don't speak your language and I'm sure you don't understand mine. All I want to do is get back to my home, Berk. Have you heard of it?" Hiccup sighed when he saw the looks of confusion on their faces. He thought, _"Of course they don't know where Berk is. Hel, they can't even understand my language. How am I going to let them know what I want?"_ B'net started talking again and Hiccup's head snapped up when he heard his name being mentioned. The woman and the man asked more questions which B'net answered. Finally, it seemed a decision was reached because the two nodded to B'net, glanced once at Hiccup, and left the room. B'net gestured again for Hiccup to follow him and led him back outside. B'net's eyes went unfocused again and a few seconds later a dragon lifted off from one of the ledges high above. As he circled in to land, Hiccup could see that it was Meznith! _"Did B'net somehow call to him?"_ he wondered. _"I didn't hear him say anything! How did he DO that?"_

After the dragon landed, B'net re-mounted Meznith and gestured for Hiccup to do the same. Hiccup was reluctant to leave until he looked at B'net who was smiling and nodding. He also noticed that Meznith craned his head around to look directly at him. Hiccup was looking at his blue swirling eyes and saw one eyelid close and open rapidly. _"What the...Did that dragon just...wink at me?"_ he thought. Hearing an amused rumble coming from Meznith, Hiccup thought, _"Yep, strange day indeed"._

Taking his place behind B'net, Hiccup secured himself along with tucking Heimdall back under his jacket. With a mighty leap, Meznith was airborne again. Once they cleared the rim of the crater, B'net turned and said something to Hiccup. _"Wait a minute, that sounds familiar. He said that just before we_ _went to..."_ Hiccup's eyes grew wide. He shouted, "NO! WAIT..." but everything went black again. Hiccup closed his eyes and counted slowly. He figured that if he concentrated on something else it wouldn't be so bad. He got to five when he could feel the sun on his face again. _"That wasn't so bad that time. At least I was expecting it"_ he thought.

Looking around, Hiccup could see they were in ANOTHER place totally different from the one they left. _"This is really freaky. You go into the dark in one place and come out of it in another. I wonder, do these dragons have anything to do with that?"_ Hiccup looked down as Meznith circled and noticed they were heading for a group of buildings clustered around a larger one. There was a lot of activity going on, with both men and dragons working together. _"I wish Dad were here to see this, he'd be impressed with the partnership these people have with their dragons"._

Meznith landed in front of the large building and crouched down. Once they dismounted, B'net led Hiccup to the large building he saw earlier. When he got closer to the building, Hiccup could see that it was like no other building he's ever seen before. Oh, sure, he's seen taller buildings, castles and such, but none with walls as smooth as these. Hiccup stopped just outside the door and ran his hand along the wall. _"Not a bump or splinter or chip. Smooth as a frozen lake in wintertime. I wonder how they made it and what it's made from"._ Hiccup stopped his reverie when B'net gestured for him to continue. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. I hope it's worth it, whatever you brought me here for" he grumbled.

B'net led him to a room with three white walls and one with a black section on it. there were chairs in the room facing the black section. Hiccup could see some lights in the corner of the black section blinking on and off. He wondered what they were for when he heard B'net start speaking. Hiccup thought he was talking to him because they were the only ones in the room, but he noticed B'net speaking to the wall! _"What does he hope to accomplish? A wall can't answer a..."._ Hiccup's jaw nearly hit the ground when the "wall" appeared to do precisely that! The voice seemed to be coming from the black section of the wall. Hiccup assumed it was just a trick. _"There must be someone hiding behind this wall. Maybe their equivalent of the village wise man. They just come to this room and ask questions. He never shows his face because that would break his power. Yeah, that has to be it."_ Smiling to himself, Hiccup leaned against the wall and waited for B'net to finish.

B'net asked a few more questions with the "wall" providing answers. After the last one, B'net turned to Hiccup and gestured for him to ask questions as well! _"Oh, well, might as well try. Maybe whoever is behind this wall can understand Norse. Well, here goes"._ "Um, hello. My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. My father is chieftain of a village to the North of here called Berk. perhaps you've heard of it?" When there was no response, Hiccup continued. "Well, you see, I was flying home from a hunting trip on my dragon, Toothless, when a storm came up from nowhere and we got hit by a bolt of lightning. I guess it knocked me out and I drifted for a while because the next thing I know is waking up on a strange beach. I know I'm somewhere to the South of Berk but I have no idea..."

"I have heard enough" the voice from the wall said.

Hiccup recoiled in shock. "So, you DO understand Norse" he said.

"I did not understand the language before, but I do now".

"What does that mean, you didn't understand before?"

"I analyzed your speech patterns and cross referenced them with information in my stored memory. I have files on the ancient languages of Earth and had to find the right one".

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. I didn't understand half the stuff you said and I'm considered a pretty smart guy by the people of my village. Just who are you and what are you talking about 'ancient languages'?"

Hiccup heard a sigh coming from the "wall". "This will take some time to explain, but allow me to introduce myself. It is incorrect to call me a 'who'. I am more of a 'what'".

Hiccup grimaced and thought; _"Oh, boy, this guy is completely crazy. I'd better humor him"._ "Okay, I'll play along. WHAT are you?"

"I am an artificial intelligence voice-address system".

"Huh?"

"You can call me AIVAS".

* * *

**A/N** : WOW! Longest chapter yet, and the hardest one for me to write. I had to "see" Pern through the eyes of someone who's never been there before and it's not an easy thing to do. Some of you may be wondering about characters and situations in this chapter and I want to address them here.

1\. I know Hiccup in the books and the movie spoke English, but I'm writing him as an actual Viking who speaks Norse. That's why I titled this chapter 'incommunicado' because of the language barrier.

2\. B'net and Meznith are characters I invented for this story. If there is a B'net or a Meznith floating around in someone else's story, I apologize in advance for stepping on anyone's toes.

3\. No, the weyr is not Benden and it was not F'lar and Lessa who talked to B'net and questioned Hiccup.

4\. Yes, that is the AIVAS from Ninth Pass before it deactivated.

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_**Thanks for reading and please leave a review** _

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. AIVAS

   
  
**Chapter 5 - AIVAS**

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_**All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.** _

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"Aivas? What kind of name is that?" Hiccup asked.

"It is not really a name, it is actually a designation. It is what the humans of Pern call me".

"Pern? Is that the name of this strange land?"

"No, this land is called the Southern continent. The name of the planet itself is Pern".

Hiccup was getting more and more confused. "Planet, you said? Is that what the people of this land call the Earth, 'Pern'?"

"You misunderstand, we are not on Earth anymore. This is a very different planet from Earth".

_"This guy is totally nuts"_ Hiccup thought. _"He wants me to believe we are on a different planet. Maybe if I humor him he will give some information that will get me home"._

"Okay, Aivas, lets say I believe you. Where exactly is this planet Pern located?"

"Pern is the third planet circling the G-class star Rukbat. It is located in the constellation Sagittarius and is approximately two hundred light-years from Earth."

"Wait a minute, that term you used, 'light year', that refers to distance, does it?"

"Very good, Hiccup, you are correct. You are familiar with the distance measurement _'rast'_?"

Hiccup had a momentary shock, but figured that this Aivas knew he was a Viking because of his speaking Norse. "Yes I'm familiar with it, every Viking is taught distance measurements when they learn how to sail."

"That is good, your knowledge of distance will help you understand the distances involved. Light travels at a speed of approximately twenty six thousand five hundred _rast_ per second. If it travels that distance in one second, imagine the distance traveled in a minute. Keep increasing the time until you have the distance traveled in a year. Pern is two hundred of these light-years from Earth."

Hiccup's head spun as he thought of the distances involved. _"Yep, that WOULD be a very long way from Berk, but he's crazy if he thinks I'm buying his story. Might as well keep up the pretense that I believe him, maybe he'll tell me something useful."_

"Okay, Aivas, so I'm a very long way from Earth and Berk. How exactly did I get here? Can you answer that?"

Aivas was silent for a few seconds and then responded, "You said you were flying home when a bolt of lightning struck you and you woke up here, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is what I remember happening."

"And you were over the island when you were hit?"

"Well, not really. Toothless and I were descending for a landing on the beach. Technically we were still over water, but we were very close to land when we were struck."

"I do not have a firm answer for how you got here, Hiccup, but based on information of Earth's past stored in my data banks, I do have a theory of what may have happened. Would you like to hear it?"

Hiccup took a seat, "By all means, fire away."

"Twenty six years before the colony ships left Earth for Pern, records in my archives tell of a failed experiment conducted on your home island of Berk, or what they are now known as the Faroe Islands. The experiment was supposed to be research in matter transferral. In other words, a way of turning solid objects into energy and sending them long distances instantly. The objective of the experiment was _supposed_ to test the theories of matter transferral, but post-incident interviews with the few survivors suggest something different. It was believed that the project's chief scientist and major funding contributor, Dr. Sherman Brascoe, secretly wanted to travel backwards in time to a place where humans and dragons were known to co-exist. He was the one who chose the island of Berk as the location to conduct the experiment. That way, the energy used for the matter transferral could be dedicated to breaching time instead of distance."

"Apparently, something went wrong with the experiment. The scientists were testing the machinery and conducted a full power test prior to sending a test subject through. During the power-up phase of the test, there was an unexpected energy spike that went through the transfer chamber and it exploded, killing Doctor Brascoe, several lead scientists, and destroying most of the facility's machinery. It was fortunate for those who investigated the accident that the computers controlling and recording the experiment were separate from the matter transfer chamber. Those records show that even though the experiment failed and the machinery was destroyed, the scientists were successful in opening a rift in space and time. Apparently, they sent a "bubble" of energy backward in time. My theory is that when this energy arrived in your time some of it dissipated in the atmosphere around Berk, causing a large storm. When the main energy spike manifested itself, it encircled you and your dragon and hurled you through space and time to land here on Pern."

Hiccup sat in the chair with his arms crossed. As Aivas told its story, the look on his face changed from skeptical disbelief to one of anger. Heimdall was picking up Hiccup's agitation and his eyes were rapidly swirling orange with streaks of red. When Aivas finished its story, Hiccup was ready to explode. He jumped up from his seat and started shouting at the black wall.

"You want me to believe that crazy story? That someone built a machine that snatched me and part of my dragon out of the sky and sent us Gods-know how much distance space to land on a planet that no one has ever heard of? You must think I'm nuts to believe that! Nothing like that even exists on Earth! And even if it did, I'm supposed to be grateful it kept me alive and dumped me here? IT KILLED MY DRAGON! That "bubble" of energy you said was sent back in time didn't encircle my entire dragon, just his head and neck. So, even though I got through it okay, Toothless is dead because of it!"

After he finished his tirade, Hiccup slumped back in his seat. Heimdall was still upset that his friend was feeling so sad. He tried rubbing Hiccup's cheek and crooning sadly, but Hiccup just ignored him.

After a few minutes of silence, Aivas responded, "I am truly sorry that you have lost your friend, Hiccup, but what I have told you is the best explanation for what happened to you. I can assure you that technology has come a long way since the time of the Vikings."

Hiccup's head snapped up at that. "What do you mean by that last remark, 'Since the time of the Vikings'? The Vikings are still around! I was with my friends just a few days ago." Hiccup remembered something Aivas said earlier. He asked, "Just how far into the future DID that thing send me through time?"

"Based on archaeological records, your village existed sometime between the years 800 to 1100AD. The colony ships left Earth in the year 2672AD and took fifteen years to reach Pern. It has now been twenty five hundred years, or turns as the inhabitants call them, since the colonists landed here."

Hiccup swallowed hard. "So that means..."

"You have been sent four thousand years into your future, Hiccup."

Hiccup jumped to his feet and screamed, "ENOUGH! That is ENOUGH! I've had enough of your lies! I've been patient, listening to what you have to say and hoping that you will tell me something that I can use to get back home. Now you're telling me that my home and everyone I know doesn't exist anymore? No, I refuse to believe it! If you won't help me, I'll find someone else who will!"

Hiccup grabbed his backpack and started toward the door. B'net made a move to block his way, but after a word from Aivas, he stood aside with a sad look on his face. Hiccup glared at him as he passed and stalked out the building. Once outside, he scanned his surroundings and chose to make his way to some rocks just beyond the trees. Hiccup found an easy slope to climb and reached the summit in short order. Once there, he took off his backpack and sat close to the edge of a steep slope. From here, he could see the entire plain with the half-buried buildings laid out before him. Heimdall crooned sadly on his shoulder.

"What am I going to do, little buddy?" he said as he rubbed Heimdall's head and wiped the remnants of tears from his eyes. "I had hopes that these people would be able to help me get home, but all they want to do is jerk me around." Hiccup snorted, "'Different planet, different time' HAH! Do they think I'm stupid? Why don't they just say they don't want to help me?" Heimdall's eyes were yellow with sadness, but now started whirling orange as Hiccup became more agitated. Hiccup saw how his emotions were affecting his little friend and struggled to control himself.

"Aw, I'm sorry little buddy" he said as he scratched Heimdall's chin. Heimdall's eyes started whirling green as he hummed happily in response to Hiccup's ministrations.

Trying to think of his options, Hiccup leaned back on his backpack and looked up at the late afternoon sky. Since his mind was elsewhere, it didn't register for a few seconds that there were now two moons! As soon as it did, he sat up quickly and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them, there were still two moons in the sky! _"What the Hel? How could there be TWO moons now? Unless..."_

Hiccup's jaw dropped open in shock. _"Everything that Aivas said is true. I'm on a different planet far from home. My village is gone and my family has turned to dust. My best friend is dead and I'm all alone."_ He knew that his best friend was already gone, but he was holding on to the hope that he would eventually be reunited with his friends and family. Now, the hope of that was gone as well. Hiccup bowed his head and allowed the tears to fall.

Heimdall sensed Hiccup's sadness and started crooning sadly. Hiccup ignored him for a while and continued to grieve for friends and family he will never see again. When Heimdall's cries became too much for Hiccup to bear, he scratched his head and said, "I haven't forgotten about you, little buddy. You're the only friend I've got now, so whatever comes I'll always have you with me. What do you say to that?" Heimdall's eyes whirled a bit slower. They stayed yellow because Hiccup was still sad, but Heimdall rubbed his head against Hiccup's cheek in an effort to cheer him up. Hiccup stood and put on his backpack and said, "Let's go find someplace to make camp before it gets too dark, okay?"

o0o0o0o

The sun had just begun to rise as Hiccup cleared the jungle and made his way toward the Aivas building. He could see B'net just outside the entrance leaning against Meznith and rubbing his eye ridges. Hiccup walked inside the building, gesturing for B'net to come with him. B'net stood quickly, brushing the dust from his legs and smiling. Hiccup grinned back and together they went back into the Aivas room.

"Hello, Hiccup. I am glad to see that you have returned safely."

"Yeah, well, I needed a little time to think" Hiccup paused for a moment and thought of another question, "So, there really is no way for me to get home? Not even if a dragon could take me?"

Aivas asked, "When did you figure out the dragons can teleport?"

"Teleport?"

"The ability to move from one place to another using the power of the mind."

"Ah, I see. Well, I figured it out the second time I rode Meznith. B'net said something to him and I guess he was warning me what was coming because he said the same thing both times we did it. I guess Meznith was the one doing the teleporting because I've never heard of a person doing it."

"Well, you were right in assuming that it is the dragons who can teleport, but they need accurate co-ordinates of their destination which they get from the minds of their riders. Since neither B'net nor any other dragonrider on Pern has ever seen Berk, none of them could give the directions needed to make it there safely. Even if you did manage to get to Berk, well, I am sorry to say, the Berk you knew does not exist any more."

Hiccup sighed and said, "Yeah, I kind of figured that, but I had to ask. So, what do I do now?"

"Do you have any training in a craft? You mentioned sailing, do you know how to sail and fish?"

"Yes, I do know how to sail and fish, but the thing I really enjoy is inventing things. I've been training as a blacksmith's apprentice for three years under Gobber, who is our village blacksmith. I would put things together in his shop during my free time. Mind you, most of them didn't work right, but I'd manage to get some good ideas out of even my scrapped projects. Is there something similar that I can do here?"

"I may have just the thing for you, Hiccup. Please wait a moment." Aivas said something to B'net who smiled and nodded. B'net said something back and then went outside. Aivas then switched back to Norse and addressed Hiccup.

"I have sent brown rider B'net to bring someone here you may want to meet. In the meantime, I have come up with lessons to help you learn the language as quickly as possible. I take it that you can read?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Of course I can read, how else can I take measurements to get my inventions right?"

Aivas replied, "No offense was intended, Hiccup, but I had to ask. I am now printing some pages for a language lesson book. Once I am done printing them, I will print another page with directions on it for the book binder. Take them to the third building to the right as you exit this one and he will put them into book form."

"I thank you for all this Aivas, but I have to ask, why? You've only just met me and all I've ever done is insult you. So, why are you doing all this for me?"

"It is my primary function to serve mankind, Hiccup. You are a person in need and I am here to help, so I am helping in the best way I can." A drawer opened and a pile of neatly stacked printed pages was inside. "Take the first page from the top of the stack and give that to the binder, he will know what to do. You do not have to say anything to them, just smile and shrug your shoulders if anyone asks you anything. Please return here when you have given this to the binder."

Hiccup removed the stack of papers and removed the first sheet. Exiting the Aivas building, he found the binder shop and gave the stack to the man with the directions on it. The man read the directions, nodded to Hiccup, and turned away to his work. _"Huh, I guess the directions Aivas gave were good enough, I didn't have to speak at all"_ Hiccup grinned and returned to the Aivas building.

"Did you find the binder shop?" Aivas asked him.

"Yep, and I didn't have to say anything. Of course, it would be nice to speak the language."

"Do not worry, Hiccup. While speaking with you, I can see that you are a very intelligent young man. You will be able to learn the basics of the language in a short period of time. I have printed another page with something that will be of use in a few minutes. Please take it and study it now."

The drawer opened and Hiccup removed the page. After reading it for a second, he asked Aivas, "What language is this?"

Aivas responded, "The language spoken by the original colonists was Earth Standard or English. Despite the efforts of the planet's teachers there have been subtle shifts in the language, so it is very different from English. You could call it Pernese."

"Pernese, huh? Okay, it doesn't look too hard." Hiccup read the passage again and asked, "It's a greeting? Who is this person that I will be greeting?"

"Someone very important to the well being of Pern. Ah, here he comes now."

Hiccup turned to the door as B'net walked in with a VERY large man just behind him. The man said something to Aivas and Aivas responded. Then the giant of a man turned to Hiccup with a raised eyebrow. Hiccup cleared his throat and recited in Pernese the greeting Aivas gave him.

"Greetings Mastersmith Fandarel. My name is Hiccup and I want to apply for apprenticeship to the Smithcrafthall."

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**A/N:** Hey, it's another chapter. Thanks, everyone for reading and please review. Just a few notes before I go:

1\. "Rast" is a Viking term used to measure distance. It is the distance a man could travel on foot before having to take a rest and is approximately 7 miles.

2\. When I thought up the time travel angle, I envisioned the bubble of energy as what was in the "Terminator" movies, except it transports EVERYTHING inside its bubble, not just living flesh. That way, Hiccup keeps his backpack and all his gear.

3\. I've searched high and low, but I can't find ANYTHING that suggests WHEN the colony ships left Earth. I suppose the date wasn't too important for Anne's story, so she left it out. I picked the year 2672 because I figure that is enough time for the people of Earth to straighten out their affairs, start to colonize the stars, start and end a war with an alien race, and build the colony ships for the trip to Pern. If anyone knows anything different, please send me a message and I'll change it.

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	6. Smithcrafthall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.

The day after he arrived at the Smithcrafthall, Hiccup met with Mastersmith Fandarel and a few other Masters in order for them to find out what he knew about smithing. He used the book Aivas gave him to find the words he needed to say. Speaking slowly in order to not mess up pronunciation, he said, "Worked as black-smith app-ren-tice. Three years. Want to do met-al work here. Please?" 

Hiccup closed the book and smiled at the gathered Masters. Hoping to make a good first impression, he showed the Mastersmith his journal and the drawings of his inventions. The Mastersmith thumbed through the drawings, raising his eyebrow at some, and nodding at most. Trying to speak slowly and using hand gestures so Hiccup could understand, the Mastersmith asked him, "You did this yourself? No help?" Looking through the Aivas book, Hiccup translated the Mastersmith's words and figured he was asking if anyone helped him on his projects. Hiccup found the appropriate words and answered, "No help, myself I did".

Mastersmith Fandarel jaw dropped in surprise. He turned to his fellow Masters and said quietly, "With no formal training except what he learned from his village blacksmith, this kid was able to figure out how to invent things on his own. It would take one of our apprentices years of training to reach the point this kid has on an instinctive level! We DEFINITELY need to train him up to see what his capabilities are". The other Masters nodded in agreement. Mastersmith Fandarel turned and faced Hiccup.

"Hiccup". He then tapped on the Aivas book. "Learn Pernese". He then swept his arm around the Smithcrafthall. "Then learn all this". Turning to Hiccup, he raised his eyebrow and said, "Yes?"

Hiccup didn't need the book to figure out what the Mastersmith just said. Looking up at him and smiling, he replied, "Yes".

o0o0o0o0o

Hiccup used the Aivas language book to quickly learn Pernese. He was still learning and making some mistakes, but the Masters felt that he knew enough to understand their instructions. They started with safety procedures and techniques and then allowed him to experiment on his own. They found that when they gave him a work project, not only did he deliver it on time, but in several cases he improved on the original design! He progressed rapidly through training so that four sevendays after he arrived at the Smithcrafthall, the Masters conferred and agreed that Hiccup learned enough to be promoted to Senior Apprentice.

Hiccup spent every waking moment after that determined to prove himself worthy of the Mastersmith's trust in him. He would look for any books on almost every subject on Pern and study them. Not only did this help him understand the language, but it also served to increase his base of knowledge. He felt that if he knew more about the people of his new home, the better prepared he would be to design new things to improve their lives.

He also took lessons on Pern's history from Harper Cregan. Whenever he had the spare time, Hiccup would show up for lessons. He didn't care that he was the oldest student there, as he was just as enraptured by the Harper's stories as the younger students. When the stories and teaching songs were finished, Cregan would test his students on the subjects covered. At first, he was mildly surprised that Hiccup would get every question right. As Hiccup kept showing up for lessons, Cregan would stretch himself to come up with material to keep Hiccup interested. After two sevendays, Cregan called Hiccup to his office.

"You wanted to see me, Harper?"

Cregan waved to a chair. "Yes, Hiccup. Come in and have a seat. Would you like some klah?"

"Yes, thank you". Cregan poured two cups and gave Hiccup one of them. When he sat behind his desk, he regarded the young man seated in front of him before he spoke again.

"Hiccup, I've been very impressed with your progress here. You show up for lessons every day despite having duties in the Smithcrafthall and absorb knowledge like a sponge! It's getting to the point where I wouldn't have anything left to teach you and I'll have to start taking lessons from you!" Cregan gave a short bark of laughter to which Hiccup added one of his own. Then Cregan sobered and asked him, "All joking aside, Hiccup, I don't have much more to offer you. Would you be interested in transferring your apprenticeship to the Harper Hall? I know they can stretch and grow your abilities much more readily than I can do here".

Hiccup put his mug on the desk and regarded the Harper. "Harper Cregan, I do appreciate the offer, but my place is here. You've heard my story and where I come from?" Cregan nodded. "Being a blacksmith was the only thing I was good at in my village. I want to be a smith, using my talents to build things and help people. While I thank you for the lessons and helping me learn the language and traditions of Pern, I must decline your offer".

Cregan bowed his head and then nodded. "Alright, Hiccup, I respect your decision, but the offer remains open. Remember that my office is always open in case you need anything".

"Thank you, Harper Cregan". Hiccup stood up to leave, but then turned to the Harper and asked him; "There is one thing you could do. If there are any new books or teaching songs that come out, would you let me know?"

Cregan laid his hand on his shoulder and said, "You'll be the first".

Hiccup thanked the Harper and left his office. As he made his way across the grounds to the barracks, Heimdall flew from his sunning perch and landed on his shoulder. "Ah, there you are, little buddy. Have a good day? See anything new and interesting?" Heimdall cheeped excitedly and sent images of things he saw that day. Hiccup couldn't make much sense of it, as he was seeing it through Heimdall's faceted eyes, but it made his friend happy to share things. Hiccup laughed and scratched Heimdall's chin as he purred happily.

Hiccup was halfway across the courtyard when he heard behind him, "Hey, Hiccup, wait up!" Hiccup turned and saw Trayner running across the courtyard and stopped to wait for his friend to catch up. Hiccup did have a few friends here at the Smithcrafthall, but Trayner seemed to stick by him more than the others. At twelve turns old, he was three turns younger than Hiccup, but that didn't seem to matter to either one of them. A small blue streak launched itself from one of the rooftops and flew to Trayner's shoulder. Trayner scratched Sky's headknob as his fire lizard crooned at him. Hiccup smiled at his friend as he caught up. "Learn anything new from the Harper?" Trayner asked.

"No, not much. He told me there's not much more he could teach me".

Trayner laughed and slapped his back. "It's not surprising, the way you study. That's all you do all the time! Don't you ever have fun?"

Hiccup smiled at his friend's exuberance. "I DO have fun, Trayner. I enjoy metalworking and learning new things".

Trayner scoffed and said, "Pffft, that's WORK! How can WORK be considered fun?"

Hiccup turned to look at him, "Okay, what would YOU consider as fun?"

Trayner tapped his chin for a moment thinking of what they could do that was "fun". Then he turned to Hiccup with an evil look on his face.

Hiccup grimaced, "Uh-oh, I don't think I'm going to like this!"

"Aw, come on, Hiccup. You'll love it!"

"Yep, definitely getting into the 'not liking this' territory. Anytime someone says that to me, something bad happens".

"Sheesh, you haven't even heard what I got planned and already you're putting it down!"

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to what you have to say, what have you got in mind?"

Trayner leaned closer and whispered, "We set up a good prank on Bentrel".

Hiccup stopped and looked at his friend. Bentrel was pretty much the only thing that Hiccup could find at fault with the Smithcrafthall. He came to the Hall two turns ago and was only very recently promoted to Senior Apprentice. Hiccup thought that the only reason he was promoted was that his father was the Lord Holder of some minor Hold to the South. Bentrel was barely competent enough with the tools and equipment to keep from killing himself and others around him. He didn't have the imagination or the drive to improve himself, so when other apprentices moved up in rank before him, he vented his frustration by bullying the younger students. Strangely enough, the only time he did have drive and imagination was the steps he took to avoid being caught at it.

Hiccup looked at Trayner and grinned evilly. "Bentrel? I'm liking this plan of yours already. What did you have in mind?"

Trayner jumped for joy and grabbed Hiccup's arm. "Come on, we've got to hurry in order to set everything up!"

Later that evening, Hiccup and Trayner left the dining hall early in order to get to the barracks before everyone else. Setting up their prank, they went to another part of the barracks and waited for Bentrel to arrive. When he came in, Hiccup had to punch Trayner in the shoulder to keep him from giggling. Bentrel turned to look at Trayner with a sneer on his face.

"What's so funny, wimpy?"

Trayner coughed and put a hand in front of his mouth to hide the smirk. "Nothing".

"It's not 'nothing', I heard you laughing. Now, what's so funny?"

Hiccup said, "Leave him alone, Bentrel".

Bentrel turned to him. "I wasn't talking to you, gimpy. Stay out of this!"

Hiccup started laughing. "Is that the best you could come up with, Bentrel? 'Wimpy and Gimpy'. It sounds like some comedy routine. Say, Trayner, let's go into the traveling Harper business. We'll call our show 'The Wimpy and Gimpy Comedy Hour'. We'll fill up auditoriums all over Pern. What do you say?"

Trayner was laughing hysterically, but Bentrel turned nearly purple with rage. He started to charge at Hiccup, but stopped when he saw Journeyman Jencis walk by the door to the barracks.

"This isn't over, gimp. I'll take care of you later".

Hiccup looked bored as he waved him off. "I'm sure you will".

Bentrel gave a final sneer before turning towards his bunk. Hiccup and Trayner watched him go. Hiccup kept his hand over Trayner's mouth because the younger boy couldn't stop giggling. "Quiet!" Hiccup hissed. "You'll spoil the surprise!" Trayner still couldn't stop giggling, in fact, it got worse. Hiccup rolled his eyes. _"Incorrigible"_ he thought.

Bentrel reached his bunk and turned the handle to open the closet behind it. As he pulled the door open, he was hit full in the face with a torrent of water. Sputtering, he looked up at his closet to see an empty bucket secured on a hinge at the top of the door. His jaw dropped in surprise when he realized someone pulled a prank on him! He thought, _"How DARE they! Don't they know who I am? Don't they have any respect for the Ranking? I'll find out who did this and when I do they will PAY!"_   He started stomping around his bunk screaming in rage as Hiccup and Trayner were rolling on the floor in hysterics. Jencis ran into the barracks, took one look at what happened, heaved a sigh, and went to see if Bentrel was injured.

"Apprentice Bentrel, are you all right?"

Bentrel whirled on him ready to lash out, but stopped when he saw the knots. "All right? Of course I'm not all right! What kind of stupid question is that?"

Jencis scowled and said in a voice of pure ice, "I suggest you back off and change the tone of your voice, Apprentice Bentrel. You forget who you're speaking to. Would you like two weeks of water rations to remind yourself of your place here?"

Bentrel seemed to consider it for a moment and visibly deflated. "I apologize, Journeyman. I forgot myself there for a moment".

"That's better, now calmly tell me what happened".

"Someone set up my closet to dump a bucket of water on me! Now, look at me, I'm soaked! I want the ones responsible for this whipped and expelled!"

Jencis shook his head and said, "You are not the one who determines whether or not someone is whipped or expelled, only the Mastersmith can do that. I don't see any Master's knots on your shoulder APPRENTICE Bentrel, so you have no say in handing out punishments. Besides, who exactly ARE we going to punish? Anyone in this barracks could have set that up".

Bentrel looked around the barracks. Most everyone was laughing now, but Hiccup and Trayner were still in hysterics. He pointed at Hiccup and Trayner.

"THEM! It was THEM, Journeyman. They were here in the barracks before everyone else so it had to be them!"

Jencis walked up to Hiccup and Trayner and asked them, "Well, did you do this?"

Hiccup wiped tears from his eyes, stood up straight, and said, "I cannot tell a lie, Journeyman" He paused for dramatic effect and said, "I most certainly did!" At which he broke down laughing again.

Jencis shook his head and told them, "That will be three days water rations for the both of you". Hiccup merely waved acknowledgement, as he still couldn't speak.

Bentrel was beside himself, "That's it? Water rations? For what they did to me? It's not enough! I tell you, it's not enough!"

Jencis told him, "It is OVER apprentice! You will do NOTHING or you will be the one taking punishment! And it won't be coming from me!"

Bentrel started sputtering, "But...but...it's not enough! They do THIS to me! The punishment is not enough! I ask for Resolution!"

The whole barracks, including Hiccup and Trayner, stopped laughing instantly when they heard these words. Conflict resolution, or just Resolution as it's called nowadays, was set up in the early days of the Smithcrafthall. Working there was dangerous enough, but if someone has a grievance with someone else and they started fighting on the workshop floor, someone could get seriously maimed or killed. So, every rest day, a ring was set up outside on days without threadfall. The persons who had an argument are given a choice of either boxing or wrestling, climb into the ring, and go at each other until one either gives up or is knocked unconscious. There are rules and a referee, but it allows combatants to vent their frustrations out on each other with nothing but a few bruises to show for it.

Jencis asked him, "Resolution? For something so minor? Are you sure? And who exactly are you going to face off against? There ARE two of them, you know".

Bentrel shouted, "Of course I'm sure! I want this!" Then he pointed to Trayner, "I want to face off against him! The type of battle will be wrestling!" He had an evil grin on his face. _"I'll snap the little wimp in half before the referees could stop me"_ he thought.

Hiccup nearly spoiled his fun when he held up his hand and said, "Excuse me, Journeyman Jencis, but I was the one who actually set up the prank, so I should be the one to face off against Bentrel".

Trayner hissed to him, "Are you nuts, Hiccup? What do you think you're doing?"

Hiccup whispered back and winked, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing".

Bentrel scoffed, "Fine, fine, I'll take the gimp instead. Hope that foot is attached good gimpy, because I'm going to make you eat it!"

Hiccup shook his head and said loudly so everyone could hear, "Hey, Trayner, be sure to bring the salt, it looks like I'll be having fake foot for dinner that night". The entire barracks laughed out loud at his remark.

o0o0o0o

That restday promised to be a clear, bright day. Threadfall was three days earlier, so the Resolution matches went on as planned. The ring was set up in the central courtyard and tiers erected so everyone could watch. Betting was discouraged, but a lot of marks still changed hands. There were four matches that day, with Hiccup and Bentrel being the third to go. Once the first two matches were over, Hiccup took his place in the ring with Trayner in his corner.

"You SURE you know what you're doing?" Trayner asked him. "Bentrel is a pretty big guy. He could really hurt you if he gets a hold of you!"

Hiccup remained calm. "Don't worry, Trayner, I've got it all under control. Besides, look at him. He's big, but it's all flab. He's probably never had to do a hard day's work in his life!"

Trayner looked across at Bentrel and watched as he threw fake punches at the air. Trayner shook his head and said, "I still think you're nuts".

Hiccup asked, "By the way, what are the odds?"

Trayner replied, "Three to one".

"You placed the marks as I asked?"

Trayner sighed, "You sure like to throw your money away. Yeah, I placed the marks. Fifty marks on you to win. Did I say you're nuts?"

"Several times. I get it, I'm nuts".

"Well, don't get that nutty brain of yours scrambled. You're one of the few friends I have here".

"Don't worry, I've got this under control".

"You keep saying that, but I'll believe it when I see it. There's the bell, good luck".

"Thanks".

Hiccup walked to the center of the ring. He was only half listening to the referee giving instructions. The rest of his attention was focused on his opponent. Bentrel was swinging at imaginary targets in the air, wasting energy and telegraphing his moves. Hiccup stood still with his arms by his sides, breathing slowly and deeply. He remembered back to the combat training he did with Astrid while Berk was snowed in last winter. _"Concentrate on your opponent's chest, all moves are telegraphed from there. Don't look at the arms and legs. By the time you see them moving, it's too late to react"._ Hiccup flexed his shoulders once as he remembered her words.

The bell sounded again and Bentrel charged from his corner like an enraged bull. Hiccup deftly sidestepped and allowed him to pass harmlessly. Bentrel spun around snarling and charged again and Hiccup rolled his eyes. _"This is almost too easy"_ he thought. _"But, I better not get overconfident. He doesn't have to get technical to beat me. All he has to do is grab me and fall on top of me and I'm done"._ Spinning around on his good foot Bentrel passed harmlessly again, but Hiccup gave him a boot in the rear with his false foot for good measure. Bentrel stopped, turned around and charged a third time, hoping to catch Hiccup off guard. Hiccup spun away and gave him another boot to the rear. Bentrel fell to the mat and got up screaming in rage and started chasing him around the ring. Even with his bad foot, he was able to easily stay out of his reach. The people in the audience were roaring with laughter and enjoying the show.

Bentrel was good and mad now. He stopped in a corner, took a deep breath, bellowed in fury, and charged at Hiccup a fourth time _._ _"This guy just doesn't learn"_ Hiccup thought. This time, instead of stepping to the side, Hiccup allowed Bentrel's arms to reach him. Just before Bentrel could lock his fingers around his throat, Hiccup grabbed his wrists, fell backwards on the mat, placed his right foot in the center of Bentrel's chest, and used his momentum to throw him backwards into the ropes. Hiccup rolled over and sprung to his feet like a cat. Bentrel laid on the mat for a few seconds in a daze. Rolling over and getting to his feet slowly, Hiccup could see that he was in bad shape. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. The referee asked him if he wanted to quit and he just shook his head.

Hiccup shook his head slowly and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's what you get for stealing the younger apprentice's bubbly pies, Bentrel. They taste good, but all you get from eating too many is fat and out of shape. Come on, Bentrel, give it up. You can't beat me. Look at yourself, you can barely get a breath!"

Bentrel was wheezing as he said, "No... _wheeze_...way can... _gasp_...a one-footed... _wheeze_...gimp can... _gasp_...beat me!"

Hiccup shrugged and said, "Fine, have it your way". Beckoning him forward he said, "Let's finish this dance!"

Bentrel took a few seconds to catch his breath and instead of coming in slowly and trying to grab Hiccup, he charged forward _again._ Hiccup couldn't believe it. " _This guy has NO imagination!"_ he thought. Dropping sideways to the mat just in front of Bentrel, Hiccup used his right foot to trip him. As Bentrel fell face first to the mat, Hiccup rolled on top of his back, keeping Bentrel's ankle hooked in his leg. He said to him, "Now this is what is known as a pretzel. They're very tasty to eat, but they're not very nice when applied to your legs. Do you want to see what happens when I apply a little pressure, or do you want to give up now?"

Bentrel wheezed, "No... _gasp_...never!"

Hiccup sighed, "Very well, but remember, I did give you the chance to quit" and proceeded to use his legs to put pressure on Bentrel's knee joints. Bentrel held out for a few moments, grunting and gritting his teeth through the pain, but finally tapped the mat in submission. The audience cheered when the referee announced the winner of the match. Hiccup released his hold, stood up, and walked to his corner to meet an enthusiastically cheering Trayner.

"You did it, you did it! I can't believe you beat that bastard! And you made it look easy!"

Hiccup took a drink from the bottle he was given and said, "It's always easy when you fight someone with no conditioning and no training".

Trayner said, "Well, you sure showed him that you're not someone to mess with!"

o0o0o0o

Three months after arriving on Pern, the postings for Journeymen were listed. Hiccup noticed that his name wasn't on the list and he told his friend Trayner.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Hiccup. I'm sure you'll make Journeyman next time".

"Yeah, but there are things going on NOW that I want to be part of!"

"Why? What's going on that's so important? What's the rush?"

"I'm not sure, but there have been a lot of visits by dragonriders lately. The Mastersmith has been spending a lot of time down at Landing. I suppose he's been talking with Aivas. We've also been working on some strange equipment".

"What do you mean by strange?"

"I've been assigned to forge metal rings that are sewn into the fabric of a suit of some kind. It's definitely not armor, the material is too thin to stop a sword, spear or arrow, but the Mastersmith said they are very important".

Trayner looked thoughtful, "Well, you'll figure it out, Hiccup, and you'll make Journeyman before you know it. Just you see!"

At dinner that evening, the postings for Journeymen were announced and as the former Senior Apprentices 'walked' from their table to the Journeyman's table, chants of "Walk, walk" were heard throughout the dining hall. Hiccup thought the postings were done, but when the last name was read and the chants died down, the Mastersmith stood and called for silence.

"We of the Smithcrafthall have always been ready to serve in the best interests of Pern and its people. Those who are willing to work and put forth the effort to increase their base of knowledge and experience will be given the chance to prove themselves. Those who do not are passed over until they can show they can be trusted with the extra responsibility. In most cases, it takes time for an individual to mature enough to handle that responsibility. In very rare cases, an individual comes along who shows he has what it takes to excel. In those cases, it would be irresponsible on our part if we held them back simply because "they weren't here long enough". It is my pleasure to announce one more posting. Journeyman Jencis, would you do the honors?"

Jencis stood and bowed to the Mastersmith. He then walked around the tables and stopped behind Hiccup, who looked around with a bewildered look on his face. Trayner was nearly beside himself with glee.

"Well, don't just sit there like a dimglow! Walk, Hiccup, walk!" Trayner started to chant, pounding the table with his mug. With a dazed look on his face, Hiccup stood and walked to the Journeyman tables as the entire Hall shook with the chant, "Walk, Hiccup, walk!"

o0o0o0o

Hiccup was working on forging some more replacement neck seal rings for spacesuits. He has been doing different jobs since his posting four sevendays ago and enjoyed every one of them. When he first got to his posting here in Landing, Aivas briefed him on the plan to eliminate the threat of Thread forever. Part of that plan involved repairing and fabricating four hundred spacesuits to protect the dragonriders in outer space. Hiccup thought it all pretty incredible and almost unbelievable, but if there was even the chance that this plan might work, Hiccup was determined to do his part.

Hiccup was walking from the caves where he was working and saw a blue fire lizard pop out of _between_ in front of him. Hiccup put out his arm, and as the blue landed on it, he could see that it was Sky! The blue chirped at him and held out his foreleg which had a message tied to it. Hiccup untied the message and gave Sky a bit of meatroll he had in his carisak. Sky chirped his thanks and disappeared _between._ Hiccup unrolled the message and saw it was from Trayner!

_"Hiccup, can you believe this, I've been Searched for the Telgar Hatching! Hatching Day should be in a sevenday. See if you can be here. If not, I'll come and see you on my own dragon! Your friend, Trayner"._

Hiccup folded the note and put it in his pocket. He sighed and thought, _"It would be nice to go see Trayner Impress, but I can't just call for a dragon to come get me. Besides, I've got things to do here!"_

Seven days later on the day of the Hatching, Hiccup heard the watchdragon bugle a greeting and heard the approaching dragon's reply. Hiccup went outside and was very surprised to see Meznith backwinging for a landing! B'net climbed down from Meznith's foreleg and smiled as he approached Hiccup.

"Hello, Hiccup. It is good to see you again".


	7. Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is, the long awaited return of Toothless. Enjoy!
> 
> All characters (not including my own) are property of Dreamworks Animation and Anne McCaffrey.

"Hello again, Hiccup" brown rider B'net said. "I'm here to bring you as my guest to the Telgar Hatching. Would you like to come?"

"Would I ever!" Hiccup answered. "Trayner sent a message by his fire lizard that he was Searched a sevenday ago and I'd like to see him Impress. When is the Hatching?"

"It could be anytime now. I thought you would want to come early to get a good seat. If we get there early enough, you could even get to meet your friend".

Hiccup turned back to where his riding gear was kept. "Great, just let me get my gear and we'll be off". Hiccup grabbed his jacket but thought it best he told someone in authority where he was going, so he sent out a mental summons. _"Heimdall, wake up. I need you to deliver a message to Mastersmith Fandarel"._ Heimdall popped out of _between_ right in front of him and landed on his shoulder. Hiccup wrote a quick note to the Mastersmith. _"Master, I've been invited to Telgar Weyr for the Hatching. Will return to duties here in Landing once it's over. Hiccup"_.

Tying the note to Heimdall's foreleg, Hiccup gave him a mental picture of the Mastersmith. He then looked in Heimdall's eyes and said, "Heimdall, I won't be here when you get back from the Smithcrafthall. Find me at Telgar Weyr. You've been there before, remember?" Heimdall cheeped once, launched himself from Hiccup's shoulder, and disappeared _between._ Hiccup turned to B'net and said, "Okay, B'net, let's go". Taking his seat behind B'net and securing the riding straps, B'net gave the signal for Meznith to ascend. With two strokes of his powerful wings, Meznith lifted off from the ground smoothly and winked _between_.

Reappearing over Telgar Weyr, Meznith bugled his name and Hiccup heard the watchdragon's reply. They then descended into the weyr bowl and landed in front of the candidate barracks. Hiccup dismounted, thanked B'net and Meznith for the ride, and waited for Heimdall to arrive.

He didn't have long to wait, as Heimdall popped out of _between_ a minute later and flew to Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup could see another message tied to Heimdall's leg. Untying the message, he noticed that it was from the Mastersmith. _"Will be attending as well. Save us some good seats"._ Hiccup reached up and scratched Heimdall's head as he cheeped happily. "Yeah, buddy, I missed you too. You did a real good job. I'm glad to have a fire lizard as smart as you!" Heimdall purred happily and leaned into Hiccup's caresses. "Let's go see if we could find our friend, shall we?" Hiccup walked into the candidate barracks and looked around. Almost all the candidates were sitting on their bunks or talking in small groups. He went to one group and asked them, "Does anyone here know a candidate named Trayner?"

Several boys in the group looked looked irritated that someone was interrupting their conversation. Once they saw Hiccup's knots, however, their whole demeanor changed instantly. "His bunk is the last one on the right, Journeyman" a tall blonde haired boy said, pointing down the rows of bunks.

He turned to look in the direction indicated. "Thank you" he said and walked to the other end of the barracks. When he got there, he could see Trayner in his bunk lying on his stomach and reading a book. he smiled as he snuck up on him.

"They say that if you read without enough glows to see by you'll go blind" Hiccup said as he walked up.

Trayner nearly fell out of his bunk in surprise. "Hiccup! I didn't think you'd make it! I heard they had you pretty busy down in Landing. How did you get here?"

"Brown rider B'net and Meznith came down and got me. You didn't think I'd miss seeing you Impress now, did you?"

"Well, I did think that the next time I saw you was when I came to see you on my own dragon, but I'm sure glad you're here". Heimdall leaned forward from Hiccup's shoulder and chirped a greeting to Trayner's blue fire lizard. Sky cheeped his answer back and bumped his head against Trayner's hand to let him know he wanted attention. Trayner scratched Sky's headknob, but sighed and gave Hiccup a half smirk. "It would be nice knowing I have a friend around".

"What do you mean by that? Don't tell me you've already made enemies here".

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that I brought my enemies with me".

Hiccup blinked twice and eloquently said, "Huh?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Trayner sighed and said, "I wasn't the only one Searched".

Hiccup frowned for a second before he understood. His eyes narrowed as he said, "Don't tell me..."

"Hey, gimp! Only candidates and the Weyrlingmaster are allowed in here! Haven't you heard?"

Heimdall started hissing on his shoulder and Sky was hissing on Trayner's. Hiccup grimaced and looked at Trayner, who had a similar expression. Hiccup whispered, "Bentrel? They actually took HIM on Search?" Trayner nodded once with a pained look on his face.

"Hey, gimpy, are you deaf as well as cripple? I said this is a place where you don't belong. Now get out of here before I have you thrown out!"

Hiccup turned slowly and gave Bentrel a look that he usually reserved for things he scraped off the bottom of his shoe. Since he was no longer in the Smithcrafthall, he let loose with everything he wanted to tell Bentrel for the last few months. "Bentrel, I have absolutely no idea what I did to piss you off so much. I've tried being civil every time I come into contact with you, but you always seem to act as if someone peed in your klah when you're around me. Tell me, is it jealousy? You're the son of some muckity-muck holder, or so you tell us several dozen times every sevenday. Why should you be jealous?" Hiccup saw him looking at the knots on his shoulder. "Oh, is it these knots? Let me tell you something. Unlike you, I didn't have my knots given to me at birth. I EARNED THEM! I worked my butt off for them! But instead of actually putting in the effort to earn your own knots, what do you do? You start crying and complaining. _'Oh, woe is me! Hiccup got promoted before I did! I should have got it first because I was here longer and my daddy is an important man on Pern. Woe, woe, woe! Cry, bitch, moan, complain, and all that other beastdung!'_ Well, GET OVER IT! I'm glad you're here at the weyr because I don't have to take your crap anymore. But I better not hear secondhand about you bothering my friend Trayner. If you do, I'll come back and we can continue the session we had back at the Smithcrafthall, this time without referees, timeouts, or tapouts. Got it?"

When Bentrel walked up, he had the usual sneer on his face, but that gave way quickly to one of surprise. As Hiccup continued his tirade, the look changed to one of disbelief, then anger, and then rage. The veins stood out in his forehead and his whole body shook violently in the effort to keep from attacking Hiccup. Fighting was not allowed in the barracks and he didn't want to spoil his chance of Impression.

With teeth clenched he told him, "How DARE you say things like that to me! When I Impress the bronze dragon that I know is waiting for me, I'll outrank you and YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT! Now get out of here before I call the Weyrlingmaster and have you thrown out!"

Hiccup put his hands up and said, "Okay, okay, don't pop a blood vessel, I'm leaving. I just came here to say hello to my friend". He then turned to Trayner, gripped his forearm as dragonriders do and said, "Good luck". Leaning forward to whisper in his ear he said, "Go ahead and Impress Bronze, that'll really boil his blood!" Trayner had to put his hand over his mouth to hide his smirk! Giving Bentrel a final glare, Hiccup brushed past him and went out into the weyrbowl.

Looking around for B'net, he was surprised to hear a low humming sound. Heimdall chirped once before he joined in as well. Hiccup looked at him and asked, "So, it's hatching time, huh?" Heimdall looked at him, chirped once in answer, and resumed humming. The humming seemed to shatter the calm of the weyr as people and dragons were running and flying in all directions. He decided to stay out of everyone's way, so he took refuge against the nearest wall.

He looked up as Meznith landed in front of him. B'net shouted down, "The eggs are hatching! Climb on and I'll take you to the Hatching Ground!"

He didn't need much encouragement. He stood on Meznith's foreleg and scrambled up behind B'net. When he started fastening straps, B'net shook his head and said, "Don't worry about the straps, we're only going on a short flight and Meznith won't let you fall". Meznith gave an encouraging rumble.

He held on tight as Meznith took off. To Hiccup's eyes, it looked as if Meznith was flying straight into the cliff wall! Before he had a chance to cry out, he could see that they were in a large cavern. Meznith landed on a ledge next to some stands overlooking a sandy part of the cavern floor.

Dragon Eggs! He couldn't help but stare at them. _"Bronze, brown, blue, green, there's no gold egg, and...black? That's unusual, I've never heard of a black dragon egg"_. Then his attention was drawn to the queen guarding them. She was HUGE! _"WOW! The dragons just keep getting bigger and bigger every time I see a new one!"_ he thought.

"You can get a better view from over there" B'net pointed to the stands. "I'm sorry, but your little friend can't stay with you. He can view the Hatching from one of the ledges. I've got to go and collect some other guests. Try not to irritate Rennsith". Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this but B'net just smirked before Meznith lifted off again.

Hiccup scratched Heimdall on his headknob and told him, "Sorry, buddy, but you've got to go. You can watch the Hatching from up there". Hiccup pointed to a ledge where other fire lizards were gathered. Heimdall gave a sad little croon and his eyes were whirling yellow. "Yeah, I know, I don't like it either, but rules are rules. Go on now, I'll call for you when it's over". With a final chirp, Heimdall launched himself and flew to the indicated ledge, greeting other fire lizards as he settled himself.

Hiccup climbed down from the ledge and walked next to the sands. Rennsith's head came up and her eyes were whirling a little faster as she followed his movements. He stopped moving and bent forward at the waist. "Good day to you, Queen Dragon Rennsith" he said. _"Doesn't hurt to show a little respect"._ Rennsith didn't reply, but her eyes were whirling a bit slower. After regarding him for a few moments, she bowed her head slightly to him and then turned her full attention to her eggs.

Hiccup reached the stands just before dragons started showing up to deposit their passengers. He decided that now would be a good time to find a seat and chose one near the sands. _"This is kind of pointless"_ he thought _. "I'd probably just be chased out of my seat by some minor lord holder who thinks he's entitled to it"._ As more and more guests were deposited by dragonriders, he sighed with relief when he saw Mastersmith Fandarel and Harper Cregan walking towards the stands. _"Heh, with the Mastersmith by my side, no one will want to contest the seating arrangements!"_ Hiccup stood and waved them over. "Mastersmith, Harper, I've saved seats for both of you here in front".

Mastersmith Fandarel raised his hand acknowledging Hiccup and smiled. "Very good, Hiccup. I knew I could count on my favorite journeyman". Harper Cregan also raised his hand in greeting.

Hiccup blushed a little and took his seat. Fandarel and Cregan were shaking hands and chatting with acquaintances as they walked up and sat next to Hiccup. Just before he got settled, Fandarel stood and greeted the Telgar Weyrleaders as they walked up.

"Ah, R'mart and the lovely Bedella. Fine day for a Hatching, isn't it?"

R'mart had a bit of a frown and Bedella seemed to be under a lot of stress. Both of them brightened slightly at Fandarel's remarks. Bedella answered him, "Yes, it is a fine day, and it'll be even finer once it's over".

As they took their seats next to the Mastersmith, Cregan turned and asked them, "Why, is there something wrong with this Hatching?"

Bedella turned to him, "No, nothing wrong so far, but it's been a very stressful time ever since Rennsith's mating flight".

"I understand that she's a Benden dragon" Cregan remarked.

"Yes, she is" Bedella replied. "Falina and Rennsith transferred from Benden a turn and a half ago. She's had one clutch of eggs before this one".

"What happened that makes this Hatching so stressful?" Cregan asked.

"A sevenday after her mating flight, we were supporting Ista's wings in an especially heavy Threadfall over Nerat. Once the fall passed over water, Falina and Rennsith were flying sweep when, out of a clear blue sky, Rennsith was struck by lightning. She instantly went _between_ and returned to Telgar. She was still in pain, so Falina called for someone to bring numbweed. Falina was concerned for the dragon embryos that she knew Rennsith carried, but noticed the wound in her midsection was only a surface burn. It was nothing like Thread which can bore deep into a wound and eat from the inside out. Once the burn was cleaned and numbweed applied, we all thought there would be no further problems".

"We realized something was different once Rennsith laid her eggs. Her previous clutch had thirty five eggs and since her mating flight was quite long, we had no reason to believe that she wouldn't lay nearly the same amount. She DID lay thirty two, but eight of them turned black the next day. Rennsith said they were dead, so we took them _between_ to dispose them. On the fourth day, an egg that we were sure would be a brown dragon also turned black. We were going to take it _between_ like the others, but Rennsith said that this one was still alive. The incubation period was going fine, but three sevendays later, things got REALLY weird".

"Why? What happened?" Fandarel asked.

Bedella replied, "The dragon started talking".

Fandarel, Cregan, and Hiccup turned to look out on the sands. Sure enough, the black egg laid off to the side separate from the other eggs. _"It's pretty large, so maybe it really is a brown dragon"_ Hiccup thought.

Cregan said, "Talking? Is that even possible with an unhatched dragon? What did he say?"

Bedella shrugged, "Not much, screaming and shrieking mostly. Saying things like, 'Get away from me' and 'You're not my rider' and 'I don't know you'. He mostly did that when we allowed the candidates to touch the eggs. After that happened a few times, none of the candidates would go near it".

Cregan asked, "And how did you know this? Did Falina tell you what was said?"

"She didn't need to" Bedella said. "All the queens could hear him".

Cregan looked at the black egg and whistled. _"That's going to be one powerful dragon"_ he thought. He turned to Bedella and asked, "Has he said anything lately?"

Bedella nodded and said, "Just one thing, 'He's here'".

"When did he say that?"

"When the guests arrived" Bedella looked around the stands at the other guests. "I think we're going to see an Impression from the stands". Hiccup, Cregan, and Fandarel looked around as well.

Fandarel laughed and said, "Well, it wouldn't be a Hatching if something unique didn't happen." Their conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the candidates. "Look, here come the candidates! There's Trayner and Bentrel in the middle. It would be nice if they both Impressed, eh Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded, but all his hopes were riding on his friend, Trayner.

As he watched the candidates spread themselves out around the eggs, Hiccup began to notice a buzzing sensation in the back of his brain. He first thought it was the result of the dragon's humming, but he was beginning to think that someone or something was trying to talk to him. As the candidates stood in a semicircle around the eggs, the buzzing in his brain intensified and Hiccup could feel as if something was forcing itself into his mind. The sensation wasn't painful, just totally strange.

All of the eggs were rocking now and Hiccup could actually hear the words in his mind, _:You're here! At last, you're finally here!:_

_"Huh?"_ Hiccup thought. _"Who said that? Are you a dragon?"_

Hiccup could 'hear' mental laughter. _:Of course I'm a dragon, you dimglow! How else can I be speaking to you like this?:_

Hiccup looked around at the gathered dragons on the ledges above. _"Which one are you? I don't see you"._

_:That's because I'm still...urg...trying to...rrg...break out of this...ungh...fardling tough shell!:_

Hiccup's jaw dropped. _"You're a HATCHLING?"_

_:Well, not yet, but I'm...rrgh...working on it:_

Hiccup couldn't believe it, a dragon wanted him! And it was speaking to him even before it hatched! He wondered if it was the black egg speaking to him. His attention was focused on the black egg which was rocking in earnest now, so he never noticed the other eggs hatching on the sands. Dragon hatchlings were wandering the sands, crying and trying to find their lifemates. A large blue hatchling walked past the candidates and approached the stands. He made his way straight for Hiccup who never even noticed him coming. Fandarel tapped him on the arm to get his attention.

"Hiccup, I think that dragon wants you!"

Hiccup turned to look where the Mastersmith was pointing to see a blue dragon looking at him with rainbow colored eyes. Hiccup felt his voice in his mind.

_:Hello, my name is...:_

_**:NOOOOO!** : _

The blue shrieked and recoiled as he felt the mental screech. Simultaneously, the black egg shattered, sending bits of shell flying everywhere. As candidates, hatchlings, and guests were covering up to avoid being hit by shell fragments, a strange looking black dragon hatchling ran across the sands, hissing and snarling at the blue.

_: **GET AWAY FROM HIM!** This one is **MINE!** Go over that way, back on the sands! There's still more to choose from!: _

The blue scrambled away from the snarling black dragon and ran straight into the arms of Trayner. He looked up with tears in his eyes and said to the crowd, "He says his name is Granth!"

Hiccup tuned it out and didn't even hear his friend Impress. His thoughts and attention were totally focused on the black infant dragon running towards him. He ran from the stands to meet his new dragon. Kneeling at the edge of the hot sands, he lifted the dragon's head and was fully enraptured by rainbow colored eyes.

_:I couldn't let Granth have you, not after I've found you again:_

Hiccup blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'again'? This is the first time I've ever met you".

The hatchling rubbed his head against Hiccup's chest and said, _:Hiccup, you already know me. Don't you even recognize me?:_

Hiccup lifted the young dragon's head and really looked at him. His eyes were the same as all Pernese dragons and fire lizards, but the shape of the head was different. He did have the elongated snout, but the headknobs were missing. He also had two elongated ear lobes, where Pernese dragons had none. The top of the head, neck, front of the torso, the leading edges of the wings, and the base of the wings were covered in black scales. His wings were much bigger than any of the other hatchlings. In the areas where his body was not covered by black scales, he was an extremely dark shade of brown. The overall effect was very striking.

What made Hiccup realize that he DID know this dragon was when his inspection got to the tail. This dragon had a forked tail like all dragons of Pern, but on either side of the fork was a pair of tail fins!

Hiccup was choked with emotion. Blinking back tears he whispered, "T-Toothless? Is that r-really you?"

In response, the small dragon gleefully launched himself at Hiccup's chest, knocking him over and licking his face. _:I told you that you knew me! I told you!:_

Hiccup was VERY glad to be reunited with his dragon, but he had a more pressing and painful concern as he yelped. "OW, OW, Hot sand! Hot sand! Get off me, Toothless! Let me up!"

 The little dragon moved to the side quickly. : _Oops, sorry about that. Are you okay?:_

"Yeah, just a bit scalded, nothing a little numbweed won't cure. I'm REALLY glad to see you again, buddy".

_:Same here, but straighten yourself up and brush yourself off. Here comes some people who look important:_

Hiccup turned back to the stands to see Mastersmith Fandarel, Harper Cregan, Weyrleader R'mart, and Weyrwoman Bedella walking towards him. Fandarel and Cregan smiled and patted him on the back. The Weyrleaders just looked relieved.

"Congratulations Hiccup, or should I say H'cup since you're a dragonrider now" R'mart said to him.

H'cup blinked in surprise, "H'cup? You just contracted my name?"

R'mart smiled and said, "But of course! That is the honorific bestowed on new dragonriders when they Impress. Another part of Impression is having you tell us the name of your dragon".

H'cup blushed and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. My dragon's name is Too..."

_:No:_

H'cup looked at Toothless and asked, "What was that?"

_:I said, no. Toothless is the name I left behind on our old world. This is a different world and I am a different dragon. Just as you now have a new name, I have a new name as well:_

"Okay, what is your new name?"

_:You're a smart boy, you figure it out:_

H'cup mumbled, "Great, not even an hour old and my dragon is playing guessing games with me".

_:Come on, H'cup, it's not that hard. Just think of my old name in Norse and add a Pern dragon naming convention to the end. And there you go, my new name!:_

H'cup had to think about it for a few moments until a slow grin crossed his face. He told his dragon, "I got it. Are you sure you want that as your new name?"

_:Yep:_

H'cup turned to the Mastersmith, the Harper, and the Weyrleaders. Holding his head high as a proper dragonrider should, he said,

"His name is Tannluth".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you go, reunited at last.
> 
> In case you're wondering, I changed Toothless's name to Tannluth because Toothleth sounded too weird!
> 
> Now you can see what you get when you merge an embryonic Pern brown dragon with the DNA of a Night Fury. I got the idea from the movie, The Fly with Jeff Goldblum.


End file.
